Vladimir Nabokov began his literary career in the world of Russian exiles in Paris. But it was the U.S. that gave him his most enduring subject. Review by Alex Beam.
Look at the Harlequins!
A dying man cautiously unravels the mysteries of memory and creation. Vadim is a Russian émigré who, like Nabokov, is a novelist, poet and critic. There are threads linking the fictional hero with his creator as he reconstructs the images of his past from young love to his serious illness. • "Good farce throbbing with his well-known obsessions." -V.S. Pritchett, The New York Review
'Look at the harlequins ... Play! Invent the world! Invent reality'.
This is the childhood advice given by an aunt to Russian born writer Vadim Vadimovich, who emigrates to England, then Paris, then Germany and then the US. Now dying, he reconstructs his past. He remembers Iris his first wife, Annette his long-necked typist, and Bel his daughter, as well as his own bizarre illness, 'numerical nimbus syndrome'.
1111597584
'Look at the harlequins ... Play! Invent the world! Invent reality'.
This is the childhood advice given by an aunt to Russian born writer Vadim Vadimovich, who emigrates to England, then Paris, then Germany and then the US. Now dying, he reconstructs his past. He remembers Iris his first wife, Annette his long-necked typist, and Bel his daughter, as well as his own bizarre illness, 'numerical nimbus syndrome'.
Look at the Harlequins!
A dying man cautiously unravels the mysteries of memory and creation. Vadim is a Russian émigré who, like Nabokov, is a novelist, poet and critic. There are threads linking the fictional hero with his creator as he reconstructs the images of his past from young love to his serious illness. • "Good farce throbbing with his well-known obsessions." -V.S. Pritchett, The New York Review
'Look at the harlequins ... Play! Invent the world! Invent reality'.
This is the childhood advice given by an aunt to Russian born writer Vadim Vadimovich, who emigrates to England, then Paris, then Germany and then the US. Now dying, he reconstructs his past. He remembers Iris his first wife, Annette his long-necked typist, and Bel his daughter, as well as his own bizarre illness, 'numerical nimbus syndrome'.
'Look at the harlequins ... Play! Invent the world! Invent reality'.
This is the childhood advice given by an aunt to Russian born writer Vadim Vadimovich, who emigrates to England, then Paris, then Germany and then the US. Now dying, he reconstructs his past. He remembers Iris his first wife, Annette his long-necked typist, and Bel his daughter, as well as his own bizarre illness, 'numerical nimbus syndrome'.
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Look at the Harlequins!
272
Look at the Harlequins!
272Paperback(Reissue)
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Product Details
| ISBN-13: | 9780679727286 |
|---|---|
| Publisher: | Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group |
| Publication date: | 06/16/1990 |
| Series: | Vintage International |
| Edition description: | Reissue |
| Pages: | 272 |
| Product dimensions: | 5.20(w) x 8.00(h) x 0.60(d) |
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