Subject
VN Bibliography: Tolstaya Review of VN Stories
Date
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EDITOR'S NOTE. NABOKV-L thanks Sandy Klein for the following item. It is
of particular interest since its author, Tatyana Tolstaya, is herself a
well-known Russian writer of short stories as well as a long-time Nabokov
admirer.
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THE STORIES OF VLADIMIR NABOKOV Edited and translated by Dmitri Nabokov;
Alfred A. Knopf: 659 pp., $35 (L.A. Times, Sun., 29 Dec. 1996)
by Tatyana Tolstaya
These 65 stories by Vladimir Nabokov, which his son gathered
together in one volume for the first time, bring the reader closer to
[his] magic. Happiness is infectious--everyone who reads this book will
feel it. Even the saddest, most tragic stories are written so that the
reader is left with the distinct foretaste of happiness, as if happiness
were the genuine lining, the inside of being, which shines through the
gloomy patchwork of reality.
Nabokov might be considered "lucky." He escaped death in both the
Russian revolution and World War II, was a successful writer and had a
happy family life. But it is really we, his readers, who are the lucky
ones. Ideally, he requires the attention of a gourmet reader, a picky
connoisseur, a potential equal. Those who value only literary fast food
will not go away hungry, but will be left with a vague feeling of
dissatisfaction--as if they have swallowed a dish whole, without tasting
it.
The translation of almost all the Russian stories in this collection,
except for the new 13, are "the fruit of cloudless collaboration between
father and son," as Dmitri Nabokov writes in his introduction, but "the
father had authorial license to alter his own texts in their translated
form." For the bilingual reader, there's an additional pleasure--to see
how marvelously the Russian original shines through the translation.
Those who know Nabokov the novelist and have forgotten that Nabokov the
story writer exists now have a precious gift in their hands.
of particular interest since its author, Tatyana Tolstaya, is herself a
well-known Russian writer of short stories as well as a long-time Nabokov
admirer.
---------------------------------------------
THE STORIES OF VLADIMIR NABOKOV Edited and translated by Dmitri Nabokov;
Alfred A. Knopf: 659 pp., $35 (L.A. Times, Sun., 29 Dec. 1996)
by Tatyana Tolstaya
These 65 stories by Vladimir Nabokov, which his son gathered
together in one volume for the first time, bring the reader closer to
[his] magic. Happiness is infectious--everyone who reads this book will
feel it. Even the saddest, most tragic stories are written so that the
reader is left with the distinct foretaste of happiness, as if happiness
were the genuine lining, the inside of being, which shines through the
gloomy patchwork of reality.
Nabokov might be considered "lucky." He escaped death in both the
Russian revolution and World War II, was a successful writer and had a
happy family life. But it is really we, his readers, who are the lucky
ones. Ideally, he requires the attention of a gourmet reader, a picky
connoisseur, a potential equal. Those who value only literary fast food
will not go away hungry, but will be left with a vague feeling of
dissatisfaction--as if they have swallowed a dish whole, without tasting
it.
The translation of almost all the Russian stories in this collection,
except for the new 13, are "the fruit of cloudless collaboration between
father and son," as Dmitri Nabokov writes in his introduction, but "the
father had authorial license to alter his own texts in their translated
form." For the bilingual reader, there's an additional pleasure--to see
how marvelously the Russian original shines through the translation.
Those who know Nabokov the novelist and have forgotten that Nabokov the
story writer exists now have a precious gift in their hands.