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A review by unfetteredfiction
Mary by Vladimir Nabokov
3.0
“And in those streets, now as wide as shiny black seas, at that late hour, when the last beer-hall has closed, and a native of Russia, abandoning sleep, hatless and coatless under an old Macintosh walks in a clairvoyant trance; at that late hour, down those wide streets passed worlds utterly alien to each other: no longer a reveller, a woman, or simply a passer-by, but each one a holy isolated world, each a totality of marvels and evil.“
- Vladimir Nabokov, Mary
Nabokov’s first novel, and a story about memory.
Our protagonist lives in Berlin, in a boarding house occupied by Russian émigrés. He learns that one of the characters he finds most insufferable is somehow connected to his past, well, is married to a past lover. Once triggered, this past rises from the depths of his memory as though leaping from a hidden place or from behind a locked door. The memory swamps his mind and makes him feel as though he has a new purpose, or direction, at least momentarily and within his own head.
I wasn’t a fan of our protagonist at all, he was judgemental and misogynistic. I don’t think he was honest with himself either, he was flimsy with an ego, and type of person who is comfortable telling themselves to go one way when they know they should go another.
Anyway, this doesn’t mean I hated the story, I didn’t, but it did raise more questions about Nabokov. What was he like? I wasn’t interested in knowing much more about him after reading Lolita, which is in many ways a stunning novel and one where I was able to detach the subject matter from the artist (sort of). It’s funny how, with a shorter story, which is less gruesome, I am wondering where his inspiration comes from and why.
I’m really glad I read this. Thank you for the thought-provoking gift.
- Vladimir Nabokov, Mary
Nabokov’s first novel, and a story about memory.
Our protagonist lives in Berlin, in a boarding house occupied by Russian émigrés. He learns that one of the characters he finds most insufferable is somehow connected to his past, well, is married to a past lover. Once triggered, this past rises from the depths of his memory as though leaping from a hidden place or from behind a locked door. The memory swamps his mind and makes him feel as though he has a new purpose, or direction, at least momentarily and within his own head.
I wasn’t a fan of our protagonist at all, he was judgemental and misogynistic. I don’t think he was honest with himself either, he was flimsy with an ego, and type of person who is comfortable telling themselves to go one way when they know they should go another.
Anyway, this doesn’t mean I hated the story, I didn’t, but it did raise more questions about Nabokov. What was he like? I wasn’t interested in knowing much more about him after reading Lolita, which is in many ways a stunning novel and one where I was able to detach the subject matter from the artist (sort of). It’s funny how, with a shorter story, which is less gruesome, I am wondering where his inspiration comes from and why.
I’m really glad I read this. Thank you for the thought-provoking gift.