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Vladimir Nabokov

    April 10, 1899 – July 2, 1977

    Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov, also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin, was a Russian-American novelist. After writing his first nine novels in Russian, he achieved international prominence as a master English prose stylist. His works are characterized by a love of intricate wordplay and descriptive detail, most famously exemplified in his novel Lolita. Nabokov's distinctive literary voice and sophisticated style have cemented his reputation as a significant figure in world literature.

    Vladimir Nabokov
    For Esme - With Love And Squalor
    Lance
    Vladimir Nabokov
    The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov
    Lectures on Literature
    Vladimir Nabokov: Novels 1955-1962 (LOA #88)
    • 2025

      Pozvání na popravu

      • 192 pages
      • 7 hours of reading

      „Rozsudek smrti byl v souladu se zákonem oznámen Cincinnatovi C. šeptem.“ V žádné jiné ze svých próz se Nabokov nepřiblížil literárnímu světu Franze Kafky tak jako v Pozvání na popravu. Zjitřené vnímání společenské látky se tu spojuje s pocitem hlubokého existenciálního traumatu, jež má obecný charakter a o to více promlouvá k současnému čtenáři. Mladý hrdina čeká na svou popravu, přičemž není zcela zřejmá ani povaha jeho skutečného provinění, ani bližší okolnosti chystané exekuce. V tomto svíravém rámci jde odsouzenci o jediné – vymezit se vůči netečnosti světa prostřednictvím vlastního psaní. Román pochází z Nabokovova „ruského“ období, tedy z doby, kdy autor již nežil ve své vlasti, ale byl součástí široké ruské diaspory v Evropě. Přestože se příběh odehrává ve fiktivním prostředí, odkaz k mašinérii stalinské hrůzovlády je nepopiratelný. Kniha je tak považována za stěžejní dílo ruské literatury 20. století. Román doprovází doslov literárního vědce Richarda Müllera.

      Pozvání na popravu
    • 2025

      The Defense

      • 192 pages
      • 7 hours of reading

      The narrative centers on Luzhin, a chess prodigy whose extraordinary talent transforms his perception of reality. As he ascends to become an International Grandmaster, his intense love for chess isolates him from the world around him. The story culminates in a dramatic confrontation with the Italian Grandmaster Turati, showcasing Luzhin's strategic brilliance. Rich in metaphor and imagery, this early work by Nabokov captures the emotional depth and complexity of its protagonist, reflecting the warmth that the author cherished in this novel.

      The Defense
    • 2021
    • 2021

      Einzelheiten eines Sonnenuntergangs

      Sämtliche Erzählungen 1921 bis 1932

      Erzählungen 1921 bis 1932 Dieser Band enthält in chronologischer Reihenfolge die frühen, ursprünglich russisch geschriebenen Erzählungen von 1921 bis 1932, die Nabokov zum Großteil unter dem Pseudonym W. Sirin veröffentlichte, teilweise während seiner Zeit in Berlin. Sie legen die Grundsteine für Nabokovs künstlerischen Weg und lassen bereits seine einzigartige Sicht auf die Welt erahnen, die seinen späteren Werken ihren unnachahmlichen Stil verleiht. Die beiden Bände mit Nabokovs gesammelten Erzählungen (Bd.1: 1921-32; Bd. 2: 1933-52) schließen die Neuausgaben von Nabokovs Gesamtwerk ab.

      Einzelheiten eines Sonnenuntergangs
    • 2021

      Wolke, Burg, See

      Sämtliche Erzählungen 1933 bis 1951

      Erzählungen 1933-1951 Dieser Band enthält in chronologischer Reihenfolge die reifen Erzählungen Nabokovs, die während seiner wiederholten Flucht vor den Nationalsozialisten entstanden. Viele schrieb er noch immer auf Russisch, doch löste sich Nabokov von seiner Muttersprache, schrieb eine Erzählung auf Französisch und viele in englischer Sprache. Zusammen mit seinem Sohn Dmitri übersetzte er auch viele seiner eigenen Erzählungen ins Englische. Auf diesen Fassungen beruht die Mehrzahl der deutschen Übersetzungen. Die beiden Bände mit Nabokovs gesammelten Erzählungen (Bd.1: 1921-32; Bd. 2: 1933-51) schließen die Neuausgaben von Nabokovs Gesamtwerk ab.

      Wolke, Burg, See
    • 2020

      Think, Write, Speak

      • 576 pages
      • 21 hours of reading
      4.0(80)Add rating

      'Masterly, hilarious, truly insightful' - Philip Hensher, The Spectator A Times Literary Supplement Book of the Year 2019 The last major collection of Nabokov's published material, Think, Write, Speak brings together a treasure trove of previously uncollected texts from across the author's extraordinary career. Each phase of his wandering life is included, from a precocious essay written while still at Cambridge in 1921, through his fame in the aftermath of the publication of Lolita to the final, fascinating interviews given shortly before his death in 1977. Introduced and edited by his biographer Brian Boyd, this is an essential work for anyone who has been drawn into Nabokov's literary orbit. Here he is at his most inspirational, curious, playful, misleading and caustic. The seriousness of his aesthetic credo, his passion for great writing and his mix of delight and dismay at his own, sudden global fame in the 1950s are all brilliantly delineated.

      Think, Write, Speak
    • 2019

      Cincinnatus, unable to fit into the world around him, has been reported to the authorities and sentenced to death for his strange, unrecognizable nature. Exploring the prison cell as he counts down his final days, Cincinnatus cannot even find out when his execution will occur and is troubled by the lack of control a condemned man has over his own life. Witty, satirical and nightmarish, Invitation to a Beheading creates a dystopian and fantastical world of political punishment, identity and the unusual hope of a man may carry to his death.

      Helikon Zsebkönyvek - 69: Meghívás kivégzésre
    • 2019

      The last major collection of Nabokov's published material, Think, Write, Speak brings together a treasure trove of previously uncollected texts from across the author's extraordinary career. Each phase of his wandering life is included, from a precocious essay written while still at Cambridge in 1921, through his fame in the aftermath of the publication of Lolita to the final, fascinating interviews given shortly before his death in 1977. Introduced and edited by his biographer Brian Boyd, this is an essential work for anyone who has been drawn into Nabokov's literary orbit. Here he is at his most inspirational, curious, misleading and caustic. The seriousness of his aesthetic credo, his passion for great writing and his mix of delight and dismay at his own, sudden global fame in the 1950s are all brilliantly delineated here.

      Think, Write, Speak. Uncollected Essays, Reviews, Interviews and Letters to the Editor
    • 2018

      Lance

      • 64 pages
      • 3 hours of reading

      The illegible signature of teetering disaster' Three great stories - The Aurelian, Signs and Symbols and Lance - the last both a derisive attack on science-fiction and an attempt to imagine the real pain and horror that would accompany space travel.

      Lance