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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
Like several other readers, I lost track of the plot--or perhaps stopped paying attention--immediately after the narrator's death, only to regain my understanding (and interest) at the end of the book. As you can imagine, about halfway through the book I would've said "meh," but by the end I changed my tune. The take away: we are all composed of unique outside perspectives, ones that illuminate a part of us, yet don't fully render a complete picture. Likewise, our personas slightly differ with each individual we meet and engage with.
I do wonder how much of initial confusion was caused by the description on the back cover. If you plan on reading this, either don't read the back cover or take it with a grain of salt.
I do wonder how much of initial confusion was caused by the description on the back cover. If you plan on reading this, either don't read the back cover or take it with a grain of salt.
adventurous
challenging
dark
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
DUDE I 110% NEED TO REREAD THIS ASAP
this quote alone prob makes the book deserve like 5 stars:
"For I do not exist: there exist but the thousands of mirrors that reflect me. With every acquaintance I make, the population of phantoms resembling me increases. Somewhere they live, somewhere they multiply. I alone do not exist. Smurov, however, will live on for a long time. The two boys, those pupils of mine, will grow old, and some image or other of me will live within them like a tenacious parasite. And then will come the day when the last person who remembers me will die. A fetus in reverse, my image, too, will dwindle and die within that last witness of the crime I committed by the mere fact of living. Perhaps a chance story about me, a simple anecdote in which I figure, will pass on from him to his son or grandson, and so my name and my ghost will appear fleetingly here and there for some time still. Then will come the end. And yet I am happy. Yes, happy. I swear, I swear I am happy. I have realized that the only happiness in this world is to observe, to spy, to watch, to scrutinize oneself and others, to be nothing but a big, slightly vitreous, somewhat bloodshot, unblinking eye. I swear that this is happiness. What does it matter that I am a bit cheap, a bit foul, and that no one appreciates all the remarkable things about me—my fantasy, my erudition, my literary gift … I am happy that I can gaze at myself, for any man is absorbing—yes, really absorbing! The world, try as it may, cannot insult me. I am invulnerable."
I mean nabokov ATE
I think his writing is a bit flowery in a way that I appreciate (in lolita it was too much, I didn't get far into the novel) but I think it was really artfully exicuted in this novella, the only problem was my own vocabulary, I had to google A TON of words which sucked bc my wifi was spotty (I'm on a plane) so I really don't think that I got the full message/impact of this book
I also spoiled it for myself which IM SO MAD ABT bc reading this book w/o spoilers would've been so sick
this quote alone prob makes the book deserve like 5 stars:
"For I do not exist: there exist but the thousands of mirrors that reflect me. With every acquaintance I make, the population of phantoms resembling me increases. Somewhere they live, somewhere they multiply. I alone do not exist. Smurov, however, will live on for a long time. The two boys, those pupils of mine, will grow old, and some image or other of me will live within them like a tenacious parasite. And then will come the day when the last person who remembers me will die. A fetus in reverse, my image, too, will dwindle and die within that last witness of the crime I committed by the mere fact of living. Perhaps a chance story about me, a simple anecdote in which I figure, will pass on from him to his son or grandson, and so my name and my ghost will appear fleetingly here and there for some time still. Then will come the end. And yet I am happy. Yes, happy. I swear, I swear I am happy. I have realized that the only happiness in this world is to observe, to spy, to watch, to scrutinize oneself and others, to be nothing but a big, slightly vitreous, somewhat bloodshot, unblinking eye. I swear that this is happiness. What does it matter that I am a bit cheap, a bit foul, and that no one appreciates all the remarkable things about me—my fantasy, my erudition, my literary gift … I am happy that I can gaze at myself, for any man is absorbing—yes, really absorbing! The world, try as it may, cannot insult me. I am invulnerable."
I mean nabokov ATE
I think his writing is a bit flowery in a way that I appreciate (in lolita it was too much, I didn't get far into the novel) but I think it was really artfully exicuted in this novella, the only problem was my own vocabulary, I had to google A TON of words which sucked bc my wifi was spotty (I'm on a plane) so I really don't think that I got the full message/impact of this book
I also spoiled it for myself which IM SO MAD ABT bc reading this book w/o spoilers would've been so sick
dark
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The motion cannot be stopped,the driver is blind,the brakes are nowhere to be found - and his heart would burst when the speed became intolerable
"I'm on my way over," said a male voice. "You will be home, I trust?"
"Your trust shall not be betrayed," I answered cheerfully. "But who are you?"
I saw now, as one sees a real turnip field instead of the picture-postcard glens and glades, how conventional were my former ideas on presuicidal occupations; a man who has decided upon self-destruction is far removed from mundane affairs, and to sit down and write his will would be, at that moment, an act just as absurd as winding up one's watch, since, together witb the man, the whole world is destroyed; the last letter is instantly reducedto dust and, with it, all the postmen; and like smoke, vanishes the estate bequeathed to a nonexistent progeny.
A mysterious thing, this branching structure of life: one senses in every past instant a parting of ways, a "thus" and an "otherwise," with innumerable dazzling zigzags bifurcating and trifurcating against the dark background of the past
"I'm on my way over," said a male voice. "You will be home, I trust?"
"Your trust shall not be betrayed," I answered cheerfully. "But who are you?"
I saw now, as one sees a real turnip field instead of the picture-postcard glens and glades, how conventional were my former ideas on presuicidal occupations; a man who has decided upon self-destruction is far removed from mundane affairs, and to sit down and write his will would be, at that moment, an act just as absurd as winding up one's watch, since, together witb the man, the whole world is destroyed; the last letter is instantly reducedto dust and, with it, all the postmen; and like smoke, vanishes the estate bequeathed to a nonexistent progeny.
A mysterious thing, this branching structure of life: one senses in every past instant a parting of ways, a "thus" and an "otherwise," with innumerable dazzling zigzags bifurcating and trifurcating against the dark background of the past
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
A short tale of a man who is at once objectively viewing, but also unreliably relating the information to the reader. I did not read the synopsis before reading this, so the end "reveal" really hit. There is a lot to be said of the nature of the mind, the view of the self, and how we as people may try to make sense of ourselves in the end.