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A review by paleflyer
Pnin by Vladimir Nabokov
5.0
Wonderful book by my favorite author. The narrator is a man, unknown. His name is never revealed, and one time Pnin speaks of him, "Yes, I know him thirty years or more. We are friends, but there is one thing perfectly certain. I will never work under him." This narrator met Pnin when he went to Dr. Pavel Pnin, Timofey's father (an ophthalmologist) to get a speck out of his eye. From there we hear of several meetings, and it does not seem like Pnin particularly likes this man. In fact, he calls him a liar: "now, don't believe a word he says... he makes up everything". The narrator insists a remembrance of certain events while Pnin stubbornly insists he has made it all up. There is also a hint that Liza (Pnin's ex-wife) loved the narrator, while he seems only to have disdain for her.
Here is Pnin, this unlucky man, occupied in his thoughts; methodical, kind, blundering, and often seen as a joke among people around him. A Russian teaching Russian in an American school, his classes are not well attended, and his teaching does not impress the school. He is always searching for a place to live that will give him what he wants: a draft free, quiet environment, and always managing to have ill luck in his rooms. He is divorced from a selfish woman named Liza, whom he still adores, and who flits from man to man as she pleases. Liza has a son named Victor, who we see visit once. Tim in his kindly excitement buys Victor a football (soccer ball) and when Victor casually mentions he hates sports, runs upstairs to throw that offending ball out of the window before Victor can see his blunder. Pnin helps unthankful squirrels drink from drinking fountains and sometimes has panic attacks. He eats at a subpar restaurant in sympathy for its failure. He tries to throw a grand faculty party and dreams of tenure, only to be fired. Our last shot of him is driving away in his blue car, with his dog (who is there, but hardly spoken of). I know it's a mess, but perhaps this gives a little bit of a look at Pnin.
As expected, this is a fantastic book by my favorite author. This book is different from his others. I love Pnin, like I've never liked a Nabokov character. It's strange, that while I adore his books, his characters are not often likable. They are extremely flawed and strange, some of them downright terrible (Humbert Humbert). I have heard that he wrote Lolita and Pnin in the same time period, and if that is true, maybe he was countering the awful narrative of Lolita with something nice, a person he could care about.
I read a few complaints about the narration style of this book but I thought it was fantastic. It is very Nabokov. He doesn't always write in a strict line. Maybe it would seem disjointed, but it is very deliberate, and I think works beautifully. We jump from Pnin to Victor, to in finale, the narrator, but it works. Why did Victor feature his own pages? I'm not certain, even. Nabokov's amazing prose and style and writing are shining in these pages. It's a fantastic book, really.
I'm aware this is a terribly written review, but I find it difficult to be coherent after reading Vladimir Nabokov. He's inspirational and also makes me cringe at my own writing. I do feel like my writing is worse than it used to be; I feel less able to put my thoughts on a page, and I always feel so disorganized.
Here is Pnin, this unlucky man, occupied in his thoughts; methodical, kind, blundering, and often seen as a joke among people around him. A Russian teaching Russian in an American school, his classes are not well attended, and his teaching does not impress the school. He is always searching for a place to live that will give him what he wants: a draft free, quiet environment, and always managing to have ill luck in his rooms. He is divorced from a selfish woman named Liza, whom he still adores, and who flits from man to man as she pleases. Liza has a son named Victor, who we see visit once. Tim in his kindly excitement buys Victor a football (soccer ball) and when Victor casually mentions he hates sports, runs upstairs to throw that offending ball out of the window before Victor can see his blunder. Pnin helps unthankful squirrels drink from drinking fountains and sometimes has panic attacks. He eats at a subpar restaurant in sympathy for its failure. He tries to throw a grand faculty party and dreams of tenure, only to be fired. Our last shot of him is driving away in his blue car, with his dog (who is there, but hardly spoken of). I know it's a mess, but perhaps this gives a little bit of a look at Pnin.
As expected, this is a fantastic book by my favorite author. This book is different from his others. I love Pnin, like I've never liked a Nabokov character. It's strange, that while I adore his books, his characters are not often likable. They are extremely flawed and strange, some of them downright terrible (Humbert Humbert). I have heard that he wrote Lolita and Pnin in the same time period, and if that is true, maybe he was countering the awful narrative of Lolita with something nice, a person he could care about.
I read a few complaints about the narration style of this book but I thought it was fantastic. It is very Nabokov. He doesn't always write in a strict line. Maybe it would seem disjointed, but it is very deliberate, and I think works beautifully. We jump from Pnin to Victor, to in finale, the narrator, but it works. Why did Victor feature his own pages? I'm not certain, even. Nabokov's amazing prose and style and writing are shining in these pages. It's a fantastic book, really.
I'm aware this is a terribly written review, but I find it difficult to be coherent after reading Vladimir Nabokov. He's inspirational and also makes me cringe at my own writing. I do feel like my writing is worse than it used to be; I feel less able to put my thoughts on a page, and I always feel so disorganized.