Declare Books During Despair
| Original Title: | Отчаяние [Otchayanie] |
| ISBN: | 0679723439 (ISBN13: 9780679723431) |
| Edition Language: | English |
| Characters: | Hermann Karlovich, Lydia Karlovich |
| Setting: | Berlin(Germany) Prague (Praha)(Czech Republic) |
Vladimir Nabokov
Paperback | Pages: 212 pages Rating: 3.92 | 7384 Users | 474 Reviews
Itemize Epithetical Books Despair
| Title | : | Despair |
| Author | : | Vladimir Nabokov |
| Book Format | : | Paperback |
| Book Edition | : | Deluxe Edition |
| Pages | : | Pages: 212 pages |
| Published | : | May 14th 1989 by Vintage (first published 1934) |
| Categories | : | Fiction. Classics. Cultural. Russia. Literature. Russian Literature |
Narrative Toward Books Despair
Intensely good writing, with the unique Nabokovian feature of phrases we've never heard before somehow moving propulsively. Unfortunately, after a promising start, the plot turns flimsy, with the "twist" at the end telegraphed far too often to be anything other than a disappointment. This is an iceberg novel, but what's beneath the surface (the book jacket copy) is likely more interesting than the ramblings of our lead, Hermann, who (in the Zweigian conceit of the novel) has written and sent the prose to Nabokov for publication. Nabokov has an interesting line in the introduction (coming some 30 years after he wrote DESPAIR in Russian): "Hermann and Humbert are alike only in the sense that two dragons painted by the same artist at different periods of his life resemble each other. Both are neurotic scoundrels, yet there is a green lane in Paradise where Humbert is permitted to wander at dusk once a year; but Hell shall never parole Hermann." This seems odd - though both are unreliable narrators who commit a vile crime, the insidiousness of Humbert is far more extreme, and not just because LOLITA is a superior novel. Humbert's charm makes him disturbing, while Hermann is so unlikable that we can never be immersed in his mind. Though he is fully in control of the narrative, he is mainly a source of derision. Now, there is much pleasure here in what the reader knows and the narrator doesn't - the relationship between Ardalion and Hermann's wife is a brilliant piece of writing, with lots of great humor coming out of Hermann's not knowing what is so obviously happening. This book also has the strangest supporting character I can remember, a man named Orlovious who is somehow instrumental to the plot, in a large percentage of the book's scenes, and never once explained or described. I enjoyed the many digs at Dostoyevsky too ("Dusty") - the whole thing can be read as a Dostoyevsky parody, now that I think about it. But despite the evident strengths, this is a minor book by a major writer -3.7 stars.Rating Epithetical Books Despair
Ratings: 3.92 From 7384 Users | 474 ReviewsWeigh Up Epithetical Books Despair
Don't play with yourself.
While this isn't my favorite Nabokov novel and I have to leave room and stars for its better, it is stil bold and amazing. Nabokov is one of those writers I will never tire of. He is imaginative, funny, tight and always just a little naughty. Despair is a false double novel that at once mocks, parodies and honors Crime & Punishment. It was like Nabokov set out to write a fanciful doppelgänger novel of Crime and Punishment, but felt like he would prefer to dress Raskolnikov up a bit; bend the
The spoils of Nabokov's love of language are in fine form in "Despair," complete with the wordplay, metafictive elements, and literary devices -- all exaggerated to an impressive and hilarious extent -- that you'd expect from our literary genius/mad scientist. "Despair" in a nutshell: at one point, the novel's author -- who never published the novel himself, but merely sent the manuscript to Mr. Nabokov -- weighs the benefits of this or that name for his novel. "Crime and Pun" is one of the
Doubles. Doppelgangers. Duplicity. Distortion. A Demented disposition. Deviation. Deflections. Disguise. Disorder. Design. Deception. Deftness. Dynamic descriptions. And Art. Thats Despair. That pretty much covers the novel proper. It starts as such a wonderful meta-fiction whose author is a real nutter with the absolute least sense of self ever (ironically, he, of course, feels that he is totally self-aware with a complete understanding of not only his identity, but of others). Despite that,
Vladimir Nabokov is a genius. In Lolita his genius is manifest in the perversion of human sympathies, the seduction of language, the durability of art (yet also the mortality of beauty). In Despair, one of Nabokov's first forays into English prose, there is an early adumbration of what will become the enchanting monster, Humbert Humbert, found in the narrator-murderer Hermann. But aside from the faint outline of what is to come, Despair is a brilliant novel in itself, removed from the
Re-visit 2016 is the film recommended by Karen.Plotline: The narrator and protagonist of the story, Hermann Karlovich, a Russian of German descent and owner of a chocolate factory, meets a homeless man in the city of Prague, whom he believes is his doppelgänger. Even though Felix, the supposed doppelgänger, is seemingly unaware of their resemblance, Hermann insists that their likeness is most striking. Hermann is married to Lydia, a sometimes silly and forgetful wife (according to Hermann) who
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