This first major critical biography of Vladimir Nabokov, one of
the greatest of twentieth-century writers, finally allows us full
access to the dramatic details of his life and the depths of his
art. An intensely private man, Nabokov was uprooted first by the
Russian Revolution and then by World War II. Transformed into a
permanent wanderer, he did not achieve fame until late in life,
with the success of Lolita. In this first of two volumes, Brian
Boyd vividly describes the liberal milieu of the aristocratic
Nabokovs, their escape from Russia, Nabokov's education at
Cambridge, and the murder of his father in Berlin. Boyd then turns
to the years that Nabokov spent, impoverished, in Germany and
France, until the coming of Hitler forced him to flee, with wife
and son, to the United States. This volume stands on its own as a
fascinating exploration of Nabokov's Russian years and Russian
worlds, prerevolutionary and emigre.
In the course of his ten years' work on the biography, Boyd
traveled along Nabokov's trail everywhere from Yalta to Palo Alto.
The only scholar to have had free access to the Nabokov archives in
Montreux and the Library of Congress, he also interviewed at length
Nabokov's family and scores of his friends and associates.
For the general reader, Boyd offers an introduction to Nabokov
the man, his works, and his world. For the specialist, he provides
a basis for all future research on Nabokov's life and art, as he
dates and describes the composition of all Nabokov's works,
published and unpublished.
Boyd investigates Nabokov's relation to and his independence
from his time, examines the special structures of his mind and
thought, and explains the relations between his philosophy and his
innovations of literary strategy and style. At the same time he
provides succinct introductions to all the fiction, dramas,
memoirs, and major verse; presents detailed analyses of the major
books that break new ground for the scholar, while providing easy
paths into the works for other readers; and shows the relationship
between Nabokov's life and the themes and subjects of his art."
General
Is the information for this product incomplete, wrong or inappropriate?
Let us know about it.
Does this product have an incorrect or missing image?
Send us a new image.
Is this product missing categories?
Add more categories.
Review This Product
No reviews yet - be the first to create one!