Modern Library Top 100 Novels of the 20th Century (53)
Pale Fire is, I think, a brilliant parody of Literary Criticism.
However, it's barely a novel and it hardly warrants it's 200 pages, so
I don't think it should make the list.
The structure of Pale Fire is unique. It contains a long
poem by "John Shade" & then 200+ pages of commentary on the poem by
"Charles Kinbote". Kinbote emerges as a complete lunatic
over the course of his commentary, reading meanings into Shade's work that
are obviously unsupportable.
Nabokov, thus, shows that critics bring such a subjective perspective
to the works they critique, that they can hardly be considered an appropriate
prism through which to view the original work. I heartily agree with
the point, but it becomes somewhat labored when stretched to this length.
(Reviewed:)
Grade: (B)
Websites:
Vladimir Nabokov Links:
-Vladimir
Nabokov (1899-1977)(kirjasto)
-ENCYCLOPAEDIA
BRITANNICA: Your search: "vladimir nabokov"
-Life
& Times : Vladimir Nabokov (1899-1977) (NY Times)
-REVIEW:
of The Silence of the Sea, by Hilaire Belloc (Vladimir Nabokov, NY
Times, 1941)
-REVIEW:
of Nausea, by Jean-Paul Sartre (Vladimir Nabokov, NY Times, 1949)
-REVIEW:
of AUDOBON'S BUTTERFLIES, MOTHS AND OTHER STUDIES. Compiled and Edited
by Alice Ford (Vladimir Nabokov, NY Times, 1952)
-REVIEW:
Vladimir Nabokov: Rowe's Symbols, NY Review of Books
Nabokov's Deceptive World
by William Woodin Rowe
-ESSAY:
Nabokov's Butterflies (Vladimir Nabokov, The Atlantic)
-ESSAY:
Vladimir Nabokov: On Translating Pushkin POUNDING THE CLAVICHORD, NY
Review of Books
-ESSAY:
Vladimir Nabokov: TRANSLATION, NY Review of Books
-ESSAY:
Vladimir Nabokov: LUNAR LINES, NY Review of Books
-STORY:
"Cloud, Castle, Lake" (Nabokov, The Atlantic, June 1941)
-STORY:
The Aurelian (Vladimir Nabokov, The Atlantic, June 1941)
-STORY: Vladimir
Nabokov. The Assistant Producer (1943)
-STORY:
Vladimir Nabokov. A Forgotten Poet (1944)
-STORY:
Signs and Symbols Vladimir Nabokov
-STORIES:
Vladimir Nabokov: Two by Nabokov, NY Review of Books
-Literary
Research Guide: Vladimir Nabokov (1899 - 1977)
-FEATURED
AUTHOR: Celebrating Nabokov's Centenary (The New York Times)
-OBIT:
Vladimir Nabokov, Author of 'Lolita' and 'Ada,' Is Dead (ALDEN
WHITMAN, NY Times)
-OBIT:
Vladimir Nabokov: 1899-1977 (R.Z. SHEPPARD, TIME)
-100
Years Vladimir Nabokov (Random House)
-Zembla
-the
international vladimir nabokov society
-The
Nabokronology: a guide to Vladimir Nabokov's life and works
-{
w a x w i n g } the vladimir nabokov appreciation site
-Ardis
Picture Archives: Nabokov
-Soapbox
Collage: Vladimir Nabokov
-Nabokov
Under Glass: The Nabokov Archive in the Berg Collection at the New
York Public Library
-CNN
In-Depth Specials on Nabokov: "Beyond Lolita: Rediscovering Nabokov
on his birth centennial"
-Vladimir
Nabokov
-ESSAY:
The gay Nabokov: The novelist never could face the secret that
cost his brother his life (LEV GROSSMAN, Salon)
-ESSAY:
Vladimir Nabokov and William Shakespeare (Philip F Howerton,
Jr., Winter 1990 Shakespeare Oxford Society Newsletter)
-ESSAY:
The Nabokov gambit : They failed with Lolita (twice) and now
they've failed with The Luzhin Defence. Why do the novels of the great
prose sorcerer Vladimir Nabokov always defeat the film-makers? (Steven
Poole, Books Unlimited)
-REVIEW:
of Speak, Memory Evidence of the Hunt, Clues of a Past (ELIOT FREMONT-SMITH,
NY Times)
-REVIEW:
D.J. Enright: Nabokov's Way, NY Review of Books
The Waltz Invention by Vladimir
Nabokov
The Eye by Vladimir Nabakov
Despair by Vladimir Nabokov
Speak, Memory: An Autobiography
Revisited by Vladimir Nabokov
Escape Into Aesthetics:
The Art of Vladimir Nabokov by Page Stegner
-REVIEW:
The Reality of the Past: Book review of 'Speak, Memory'
(JAN. 20, 1967, TIME)
-REVIEW:
of Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov The Tragedy of Man Driven by Desire
(ELIZABETH JANEWAY, NY Times)
-REVIEW:
of Lolita (Orville Prescott, NY Times)
-REVIEW:
of Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (Charles Rolo, The Atlantic,
SEPTEMBER 1958)
-REVIEW:
To the End of Night: Book review of 'Lolita' (SEPT. 1, 1958, TIME)
-ESSAY:
The Lolita Case (Time, 1958)
-REVIEW:
of Pale Fire In an Elaborate Spoof, Nabokov Takes Us to the Never-Never
Land of Zembla (GEORGE CLOYNE, Sunday, May 27, 1962, NY Times)
-REVIEW:
of Pale Fire (Christopher Keep, Tim McLaughlin)
-REVIEW:
V.S. Pritchett: The Magician's Trick, NY Review of Books
The Enchanter by Vladimir
Nabokov and translated by Dmitri Nabokov
-REVIEW:
V.S. Pritchett: The Supreme Fairy Tale, NY Review of Books
Lectures on Don Quixote
by Vladimir Nabokov
-REVIEW:
John Bayley: The Novelist as Pedagogue, NY Review of Books
Lectures on Russian Literature
by Vladimir Nabokov
-REVIEW:
Robert M. Adams: Nabokov's Show, NY Review of Books
Lectures on Literature:
British, French, and German Writers by Vladimir Nabokov
-REVIEW:
V.S. Pritchett: Nabokov's Touch, NY Review of Books
Look at the Harlequins!
by Vladimir Nabokov
Strong Opinions by Vladimir
Nabokov
-REVIEW:
Michael Wood: Tender Trousers, NY Review of Books
Transparent Things by Vladimir
Nabokov
-REVIEW:
V.S. Pritchett: Genesis, NY Review of Books
Glory by Vladimir Nabokov,
translated by Dimitri Nabokov
The Scorpion God by William
Golding
-REVIEW:
Jack Richardson: It's About Time, NY Review of Books
Mary by Vladimir Nabokov
and translated by Michael Glenny
-REVIEW:
Matthew Hodgart: Happy Families, NY Review of Books
ADA or Ardor: A Family Chronicle
by Vladimir Nabokov
-REVIEW:
William H. Gass: Mirror, Mirror, NY Review of Books
King, Queen, Knave by Vladimir
Nabokov
Nabokov: The Man and His
Work edited by L.S. Dembo
Keys to Lolita by Carl R.
Proffer
-REVIEW:
Edmund Wilson: The Strange Case of Pushkin and Nabokov, NY Review of
Books
Eugene Onegin A Novel in
Verse by Alexandr Pushkin, translated by Vladimir Nabokov
-RESPONSE:
Vladimir Nabokov: LETTERS: THE STRANGE CASE OF NABOKOV AND
WILSON,
NY Review of Books
-REVIEW:
Harry Levin: A Contest Between Conjurors, NY Review of Books
The Nabokov-Wilson Letters:
Correspondence Between Vladimir Nabokov and Edmund Wilson, 1940-1971
-REVIEW:
Robert M. Adams: Nabokov's Game, NY Review of Books
The Defense by Vladimir
Nabokov
-REVIEW:
of Nabokov's Congeries (Anthony Burgess, NY Times Book Review)
-REVIEW:
of The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov (1995, John Updike, NY Times
Book Review)
-REVIEW:
Robert M. Adams: The Wizard of Lake Cayuga, NY Review of Books
Vladimir Nabokov: The American Years by Brian Boyd
-REVIEW:
V.S. Pritchett: Nabokov's Game, NY Review of Books
Nabokov: His Life in Part
by Andrew Field
-REVIEW:
Denis Donoghue: Absolute Pitch
Nabokov: His Life in Art:
A Critical Narrative by Andrew Field
-REVIEW:
of V E r a ( Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov ) BY STACY SCHIFF
(MARY ELIZABETH WILLIAMS, Salon)
-REVIEW:
of Vera by Stacy Schiff Behind the Mask of Mrs. Vladimir
Nabokov (Katherine Knorr, International Herald Tribune)
-REVIEW:
of NABOKOV'S BLUES: The Scientific Odyssey of a Literary Genius
By Kurt Johnson and Steve CoatesThe Ardent Collector (Donald Smith,
Washington Post Book World)
-ESSAY:
The Year of 'Lolita' (Brian Boyd, NY Times Book Review)
-ESSAY:
"Lolita," My Mother-in-Law, the Marquis de Sade, and Larry Flynt: Reflections
on art, pornography, and censorship, after the taboos have all been smashed
(Norman Podhoretz, Commentary)
-ESSAY:
PERSONAL BEST: Lolita (MARY ELIZABETH WILLIAMS, Salon)
-ESSAY:
PERSONAL BEST: Lolita (AMY TAN, Salon)
-ESSAY:
Vladimir Nabokov: A personal centenary salute (John Yewell, MetroActive)
-ESSAY:
F.W. Dupee: Nabokov: the Prose and Poetry of It All, NY Review of Books
Book-related and General Links:
-Life
& Times : Vladimir Nabokov (1899-1977) (NY Times)
-Analysis
from the Electronic Labyrinth
English
102 Lolita Page
w
a x w i n g the vladimir nabokov appreciation
page
Zembla
-ESSAY
: PALE FIRE (Glasgow Phillips, Blue Lawn)
-REVIEW:
of Pale Fire In an Elaborate Spoof, Nabokov Takes Us to the Never-Never
Land of Zembla (GEORGE CLOYNE, NY Times, 1962)
-REVIEW:
of Nabokov's Pale Fire: The Magic of Artistic Discovery By BRIAN
BOYD (DANIEL ZALEWSKI, NY Times Book Review)
-REVIEW:
of Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (Charles Rolo, The Atlantic,
SEPTEMBER 1958)
-Personal
Best (MARY ELIZABETH WILLIAMS,
Salon)
-REVIEW:
Professor
Nabokov (John Updike, NY Review of Books)
-REVIEW:
of Nabokov: His Life in Art: A Critical Narrative by Andrew Field (Denis
Donoghue, NY Review of Books)
-REVIEW:
of NABOKOV'S BLUES: The Scientific Odyssey of a Literary Genius
By Kurt Johnson and Steve CoatesThe Ardent Collector (Donald Smith,
Washington Post Book World)
If you liked Pale Fire, try:
A.S. Byatt
-Possession
Comments:
Orrin welcomes reader comments on his reviews.
Add yours here.
What's up Orrin. Nice site. But it is also, Pale Fire, it is also about the way maniacs (Kinbote) get way too wrapped up into art. Don't you think?
- fairest.blogspot.com
- Jan-05-2004, 12:46
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