Mary | Litsy

rachaich

Mary | Vladimir Nabokov

pick

Short read with the usually deep characters from Nabavov.
Loving in the past, nostalgia and rose tinted memories.

TheBee I have the exact same cup!! ☺️💞 5y

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rachaich

Mary | Vladimir Nabokov

Whilst I didn'projects subject matter of Lolita, I found the prose wonderful. So this is my next effort by nabokov.
I also like that the cover matches my bedding! 😂😍😍

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Graywacke

Mary | Vladimir Nabokov

pick

Nabokov‘s first novel from 1926 is short, a little slow to start, a little heavy handed on a lost Russia but also a quite beautiful look at memory. Ganin, young, broke, living in Berlin with other broken Russian exiles, gets caught up thinking back to a teenage affair started on his property in Russia, conflating the memory of the woman and the place.

Nabokov is one of my 2020 themes. This was a nice start.

batsy Nice review! I'm intrigued. 5y

jewright Will I like this if I love Tolstoy? 5y

Graywacke @batsy I‘m curious how he evolves. I get the sense he didn‘t like it, or at least that he preferred a different style. 5y

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Graywacke @jewright - I‘ve only read Anna K, and this is nothing like that. Nabokov is already full of 20th century urban ugliness. It‘s actually interesting to compare this to Cather - same time period, same focus on trains, very different perspective. 5y

jewright @Graywacke I‘m intrigued. I‘ll add it to the never ending TBR. 5y

Graywacke @jewright 😂 (Now I‘m picturing the warehouse at the end of Raiders of the Lost Arc) 5y

jewright @Graywacke Lol! Yes, that‘s exactly it! 5y

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Graywacke

Mary | Vladimir Nabokov

“He was so absorbed with his memories that he was unaware of time. His shadow lodged in Frau Dorn‘s pension [in Berlin], while he himself was in Russia, reliving his memories as though they were reality. Time for him had become the progress of recollection, which unfolded gradually.”

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Graywacke

Mary | Vladimir Nabokov

That‘s maybe a first English edition (1970) “borrowed” from my in-laws.

Nabokov‘s first novel, from 1926, but only translated in 1970. He defends it a little weakly, saying, “I feel no embarrassment in confessing to a sentimental stab of attachment to my first book.”

After a few false starts, started reading today. Nabokov is one of my 2020 themes.

SqueakyChu I‘ve yet to read my first Nabakov, although I‘ve had a copy of Lolita sitting on my bookshelf for years! 5y

Graywacke @SqueakyChu Lolita and Pale Fire are the ones I‘m most looking forward too. Been thinking about them both for years and I‘ve penciled them in for next year. (This year I‘m doing the Russia language novels) 5y

Tamra A reread of Lolita is long overdue for me. Maybe you should propose a buddy read? 5y

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SqueakyChu Give me a heads up next year when you plan to read it. I‘ll make it a shared read. Sitting on my bookshelf for another year won‘t hurt my copy! 😃 You are such a disciplined reader! 5y

SqueakyChu @Graywacke Better you than me on the Russian novels. Too many characters with names that are much too long! 😃 5y

Graywacke @SqueakyChu character names - if this book weren‘t only 100 pages, I would need to take notes. 5y

Graywacke @Tamra @SqueakyChu - I have Lolita penciled on for February 2021 🙂 Would love (❤️❤️!!) a group read - but it might be a little early to make that kind of plan... 5y

Graywacke @Tamra @SqueakyChu Alternatively, if you want to read it sooner, I‘m open to that...My plan is just self-encouragement, not discipline 5y

SqueakyChu @Graywacke You really crack me up. I don‘t know what I‘m reading next, and you have your February, 2021, read planned! 5y

SqueakyChu @Graywacke @Tamra So if you get someone to do it as a group read on Club Read or the 75ers Group on LT, I‘ll happily join in...even in February, 2021. 😂 (edited) 5y

Graywacke @SqueakyChu could happen. I‘m pushing for Ducks, Newburyport in March this year. There‘s some interest. But if we do Lolita that way, we‘ll have to get @Tamra to join LibraryThing... 5y

Graywacke @SqueakyChu however, for whatever reason, my experience with book discussions are better here than LT. So, this would actually be my preference. 5y

Liz_M Jeremy Irons's narration of Lolita is, hands down, the best audiobook I have ever heard. Just Sayin'. 5y

Graywacke @Liz_M has appeal! Might make that awful story more fun.... 5y

SqueakyChu @Graywacke Cool! Let‘s do it here on Litsy then. Give me a heads up ahead of time, though. 5y

SqueakyChu @Liz_M ☹️ I no longer can do audiobooks because my hearing has gotten so bad. I‘ll just read it the old way! 😃 (edited) 5y

Graywacke @SqueakyChu reminders - well, of course!! (Goodness, I‘ll need to remember, myself. 🙂) 5y

Graywacke @SqueakyChu and that stinks about your hearing. 🙁 5y

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