Shamanstvo - Or Nabokov Scrawl

[nirinia]

'And the rest is rust and stardust' (Lolita, chapter 25), read that out loud. The repetition of the /s/ sound is what makes it so pleasing to listen to. That is Nabokov's genius. The sentence makes perfect sense and sounds unearthly.

'William Rowe, after studying Nabokov's Russian novels in both their originals and the author's own English translations, found that "a faintly Russian coloration further contributes to the 'live iridescence' of Nabokov's English prose. ' quote stolen from this site. I've suspected that some of what makes Nabokov's writing so alluring is that he as retained some of his beloved Russian. I hope one day to be confident enough of my Russian to read his Russian works. He translated them himself, but also re-wrote them.

The best part is, I have not yet read everything he wrote.

Comments

[basje.livejournal.com]

I love Nabokov! He has such an amazing way with words. Lolita is magnificent, and so it Ada. You'll love it so much when you read it :)

[nirinia.livejournal.com]

I know, I worship that book! No, the man, really. I've read four of his novels, now, Lolita included. I'm thrilled to see you like him as much as I do. Have you read any of his other works?

[basje.livejournal.com]

Sometimes I'm just amazed at the sentences he constructs, it's almost poetry but in novel-form :) I read just the two, but I'm looking to buy some more. Which ones did you read?

[nirinia.livejournal.com]

Poetry in novel form is the best description i've heard yet, it is actually very accurate. I've read Despair; Mary; Laughter in the Dark; Speak, Memory, and own both collections of his lectures, Look at the Harlequins and Ada or Ardor, both of which I've yet to read. (Had to go check my shelves, I'm so bad at keeping track!) Mary was the least enjoyable of them, I think. And the Harlequins is allegedly very difficult, as is Ada or Ardor unless you read French and Russian, which he's included throughout.

Sorry, this turned into a rant. I'm doing all I can to procrastinate.

[basje.livejournal.com]

I read Ada, it wasn't so hard, but I do read French. I think he even has some Dutch phrases in there, and sometimes it's pretty hard to keep track of what is actually happening, but the imagery and story are very nice.

I think I'll start with Laughter in the Dark, a title like that speaks to me ;) It's a shame they're not available online yet because my bookseller never has a lot of them.