Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by anthofer
King, Queen, Knave by Vladimir Nabokov
5.0
The best thing about a "minor" Nabokov is that it allows him to flex his storytelling and lyricism without worrying about upending the form of the novel at the same time, as he does in Lolita or Pale Fire. The box of a basic crime/romance social realist novel (he calls it a "bright brute," a "parody" of a Dreiser, and a "homage" to Flaubert) does not box him in; instead, it allows him to focus on his characters, focus his émigré rage and humor on a 20's Berlin society that is both utterly frivolous and ominously unequal.
I'm a sucker for Berlin, my favorite city in the world, and I'm a sucker for the threesome at the center of this novel and Nabokov's love of chess and tennis. I wouldn't change anything about this novel, and I'd recommend reading it before Lolita or Pale Fire. I'll be rounding the gate with Pnin and The Gift soon but I continue to be astonished with how pleasurable AND smart Nabokov is, and wish I'd read him earlier.
I'm a sucker for Berlin, my favorite city in the world, and I'm a sucker for the threesome at the center of this novel and Nabokov's love of chess and tennis. I wouldn't change anything about this novel, and I'd recommend reading it before Lolita or Pale Fire. I'll be rounding the gate with Pnin and The Gift soon but I continue to be astonished with how pleasurable AND smart Nabokov is, and wish I'd read him earlier.