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I’m glad I’ve read Pnin in English, it’s beautifully written indeed - a mix of Russian length of sentences and English language mastery - I truly enjoyed the style. (I’ll definitely re-read Lolita in English, as in Russian something was off about the story, and maybe the language was the reason.)
The story itself, while humorous, feels also very real and encouraging. I don’t know if that was Nabokov’s intention, but besides sympathy towards Pnin, I also felt that I could learn something from his character. I like how Timofey Pavlovich always courageously accepts his misfortunes and keeps going no matter what, only occasionally allowing heart breaking recollections of the past. I like how all these fun parts of him make him stand out - so others, “normal people”, discuss him and think of him as almost the only interesting event it their lives. I respect how after losing his own country, and for decades failing to settle in the new one, he is still trying. I like how people from the past who hurt him and betrayed him still reach out to him in times of trouble and how he just cannot say “no”. Modern books too often teach us that the above behavior is the one of losers (you either abuse or be abused), so I’m glad to find a book where a funny, kind and trustworthy person shows this behavior and the readers sympathize him - we should have more people like this in our lives I think.
The story structure seemed strange in the beginning, but later I read that Nabokov envisioned this as a series of short stories about Pnin, explaining some parts being so loosely connected. The scene of Pnin sitting alone on the bench under the pines thinking of Mira is forever in my heart.
The story itself, while humorous, feels also very real and encouraging. I don’t know if that was Nabokov’s intention, but besides sympathy towards Pnin, I also felt that I could learn something from his character. I like how Timofey Pavlovich always courageously accepts his misfortunes and keeps going no matter what, only occasionally allowing heart breaking recollections of the past. I like how all these fun parts of him make him stand out - so others, “normal people”, discuss him and think of him as almost the only interesting event it their lives. I respect how after losing his own country, and for decades failing to settle in the new one, he is still trying. I like how people from the past who hurt him and betrayed him still reach out to him in times of trouble and how he just cannot say “no”. Modern books too often teach us that the above behavior is the one of losers (you either abuse or be abused), so I’m glad to find a book where a funny, kind and trustworthy person shows this behavior and the readers sympathize him - we should have more people like this in our lives I think.
The story structure seemed strange in the beginning, but later I read that Nabokov envisioned this as a series of short stories about Pnin, explaining some parts being so loosely connected. The scene of Pnin sitting alone on the bench under the pines thinking of Mira is forever in my heart.