Status
Available
Call number
Genres
Publication
Harvest/HBJ Book (2002), Paperback, 352 pages
User reviews
LibraryThing member anisoara
Yes, I am in ecstasies over Nabokov's Lectures on Russian Literature, which takes a look at the 19th century Russian literary canon (specifically Gogol, Turgenev, Tolstoy, Chekov and Gorky), but Nabokov is far from treating this literature as sacrosanct. Nabokov rates Tolstoy as the finest, Gogol
As Hero of Russian Literature Tolstoy is not spared the rod of criticism. Nabokov does find fault with Tolstoy, albeit misdemeanors rather than grand crimes, such as his characters' tendency to blush and flush, which he attributes to the nineteenth century fashion. Nabokov the great writer draws attention to the fine detail much as a master painter, noting the elements of the portrait that make it seem real. He mourns Tolstoy's loss to literature when Tolstoy renounced his the style of writing of his great literature as self indulgent and running counter to his moral beliefs. Fortunately for future generations, Tolstoy was not quite able to wholly abstain and so still gave us some more of his finest, if not on such a grand scale as before. Gogol, Turgenev, Chekhov and Gorky are treated in similar fashion, if not in such great depth (the section on Tolstoy accounts for perhaps a third of the book).
In addition to examining texts and writing style, Nabokov also looks at the personal histories of the writers, fashioning a rounded picture not just of great works but of great writers in union with their works. I understand that Nabokov's Lectures on Literature focus exclusively on the writing, so while I intend to read this at some point (not on my shelves yet), and while I expect to fully enjoy reading it, it will be a different kind of read.
Finally, Nabokov is often scathing in his treatment of the translators whose translations he teaches from. We are privileged in Lectures to read Nabokov's own translations of sections of many of the works under review.
After reading Lectures, I found myself dying to plunge into the works themselves. In fact, I could not resist gathering up my own books and flipping through them along with Nabokov. Promptly after finishing the Lectures, I started Anna Karenin and read it with more enjoyment than ever before, and will try to fit in as many of the others as I can in the coming year along with my books off the self challenge. What an excellent companion piece the Lectures have been so far!
(Having written this I'm not entirely sure Gogol was Nabokov's "second" greatest but, based on the criticism he heaped upon Turgenev, I can't imagine Turgenev in second place!)
Show More
as second, and Chekhov as third. As Hero of Russian Literature Tolstoy is not spared the rod of criticism. Nabokov does find fault with Tolstoy, albeit misdemeanors rather than grand crimes, such as his characters' tendency to blush and flush, which he attributes to the nineteenth century fashion. Nabokov the great writer draws attention to the fine detail much as a master painter, noting the elements of the portrait that make it seem real. He mourns Tolstoy's loss to literature when Tolstoy renounced his the style of writing of his great literature as self indulgent and running counter to his moral beliefs. Fortunately for future generations, Tolstoy was not quite able to wholly abstain and so still gave us some more of his finest, if not on such a grand scale as before. Gogol, Turgenev, Chekhov and Gorky are treated in similar fashion, if not in such great depth (the section on Tolstoy accounts for perhaps a third of the book).
In addition to examining texts and writing style, Nabokov also looks at the personal histories of the writers, fashioning a rounded picture not just of great works but of great writers in union with their works. I understand that Nabokov's Lectures on Literature focus exclusively on the writing, so while I intend to read this at some point (not on my shelves yet), and while I expect to fully enjoy reading it, it will be a different kind of read.
Finally, Nabokov is often scathing in his treatment of the translators whose translations he teaches from. We are privileged in Lectures to read Nabokov's own translations of sections of many of the works under review.
After reading Lectures, I found myself dying to plunge into the works themselves. In fact, I could not resist gathering up my own books and flipping through them along with Nabokov. Promptly after finishing the Lectures, I started Anna Karenin and read it with more enjoyment than ever before, and will try to fit in as many of the others as I can in the coming year along with my books off the self challenge. What an excellent companion piece the Lectures have been so far!
(Having written this I'm not entirely sure Gogol was Nabokov's "second" greatest but, based on the criticism he heaped upon Turgenev, I can't imagine Turgenev in second place!)
Show Less
LibraryThing member jpsnow
This was a perfect way to round out a recent series of Russian lit. Taken from Nabokov's lecture notes, this addresses the biography, style, and messages of Chekhov, Dostoevsky, Gogol, Gorki, Tolstoy, and Turgenev. Nabokov regarded Chekhov, Tolstoy and Turgenev highly. He was very critical of
Show More
Dostoevsky, claiming that his work was cheap sentimentality, unbalanced, but successfully obscured with a complex plot that serves to capture the reader the first time. Show Less
LibraryThing member lvwoolf
I can never get enough of this book.
LibraryThing member wonderperson
Read this book to hear Nabokov's opinions on Dotsoevski and Gogol who he hates, and for his exact detailed analysis of Tolstoy's Anna Karenin.
This guy knows his onions but whether hating the above is neccesary to appreciate Russian Literature I think can only be borne by reading the Literature and
I think Dotsoevski portrays the lives of those in poverty at it's frightening best; it may be one reason Nabokov doesn't like him.
This book to conclude gives food for thought as to the criteria for great Literature and therefore worthy of your consideration.
Review of top of the head.
This guy knows his onions but whether hating the above is neccesary to appreciate Russian Literature I think can only be borne by reading the Literature and
Show More
making up ones's own mind.I think Dotsoevski portrays the lives of those in poverty at it's frightening best; it may be one reason Nabokov doesn't like him.
This book to conclude gives food for thought as to the criteria for great Literature and therefore worthy of your consideration.
Review of top of the head.
Show Less
Subjects
Language
Original language
English
Original publication date
1981
Physical description
352 p.; 8.04 inches
ISBN
0156027763 / 9780156027762