Very few books I've read can hold so much power in so few words. The ending of this book, in the final paragraphs, performs a tying up of the whole novel that changes the light cast on all the previous pages. The Affirmation had a similar effect in its final page, but this one …
Plot or not?
I'm losing interest in plot, as a reader. I care less and less about a protagonist and a villain and a mystery and a battle, and more about character and prose and interesting thoughts. Will I ever read genre fiction again? I don't know... Also, I sense this is going to rub off on my …
Despair, by Vladimir Nabokov
Schadenfreude--pleasure derived by someone from another person's misfortune. Nabokov, I am coming to find, is the master of this. The key to it, is to not identify too much with the person experiencing the misfortune, otherwise it becomes uncomfortable, cringy, awkward... but this, is not. You find yourself laughing with the most perfect satisfaction. And …
Mystery on the side
I'm listening to another Nabokov novel, and no surprise, it's great. This one is about a struggling businessman who also seems a bit mentally unstable, running across a vagrant who happens to look exactly like him. The instant he sees this face, a plan sparks in his mind. You can tell, but, you don't know …
Pale Fire, by Vladimir Nabokov
This is the epitome of genius. Nabokov must have some kind of freak literary gene that makes him so good with words. This is one of the few books I've wanted to start reading again the moment I reached the end. (I think Lolita was another...) On the surface, Pale fire is a 999 line …
Jonas David 