Penguin classcis Read Red

In Pale Fire Nabokov offers a cornucopia of deceptive pleasures: a 999-line poem by the reclusive genius John Shade; an adoring foreword and commentary by Shade's self-styled Boswell, Dr. Charles Kinbote; a darkly comic novel of suspense, literary idolatry and one-upmanship, and political intrigue.

In this collection of interviews, articles, and editorials, Nabakov ranges over his life, art, education and politics amoung other subjects.

The library of America is dedicated to publishing America's best and most significant writing in handsome, enduring volumes, featuring authoritative texts. Hailed as the "finest-looking, longest-lasting editions ever made" (The New Republic), Library of America volumes make a fine gift for any occasion. Now, with exactly one hundred volumes to choose from, there is a perfect gift for everyone.

The library of America is dedicated to publishing America's best and most significant writing in handsome, enduring volumes, featuring authoritative texts. Hailed as the "finest-looking, longest-lasting editions ever made" (The New Republic), Library of America volumes make a fine gift for any occasion. Now, with exactly one hundred volumes to choose from, there is a perfect gift for everyone.

Awe and exhiliration--along with heartbreak and mordant wit--abound in Lolita, Nabokov's most famous and controversial novel, which tells the story of the aging Humbert Humbert's obsessive, devouring, and doomed passion for the nymphet Dolores Haze. Lolita is also the story of a hypercivilized European colliding with the cheerful barbarism of postwar America. Most of all, it is a meditation on love--love as outrage and hallucination, madness and transformation.

The author's observations on the great nineteenth-century Russian writers-Chekhov, Dostoevsky, Gogol, Gorky, Tolstoy, and Turgenev. "This volume... never once fails to instruct and stimulate. This is a great Russian talking of great Russians" (Anthony Burgess). Edited and with an Introduction by Fredson Bowers; illustrations.

For two decades, first at Wellesley and then at Cornell, Nabokov introduced undergraduates to the delights of great fiction. Here, collected for the first time, are his famous lectures, which include Mansfield Park, Bleak House, and Ulysses. Edited and with a Foreword by Fredson Bowers; Introduction by John Updike; illustrations.

天才作家空前绝后的作品。——纽约时报书评 前言 这本小说俄文原名是PRIGLASHENIE NA KAZN'。要不是后缀重复，我会建议把它译成《行刑的邀请》，但另一方面，我用母语本来想说IGLASHENIE NA ORSE- CHONIE GOLOVI （《杀头的邀请》），只是读起来同样不顺口。 俄文原著是正好四分之一世纪前在柏林完成的，即从苏联逃离十五年后，也就是纳粹制度达到顶峰之时。至于我所见到的属于同种无聊、眼盲闹剧的两种制度对这本书的影响，好的读者与我一样不必多究。 “PRIGLASHNIE NA KAZN'”以连载的形式在巴黎的一本俄罗斯移民杂志上刊登，后来在1938年，OMKNIGI 在同一城市上出版了它。移民评论者对这本书有些困惑，但还喜欢它。他们觉得在这本书中辨别出了“卡夫卡”的笔调，却不知道我不懂德语，对现代德国文字一无所知，也未读过卡夫卡作品的任何法文和英文译本。毫无疑问，这本书与我以前的小说（或后来的‘BEND SINIS- TER'）确有风格上的联系，但与《城堡》和《审判》（THETRIAL）之间并无联系。在我的文学评论概念中思想类同并不重要，但如果我确实要找一个同宗灵魂的话，我 肯定要选那位伟大的艺术家，而不是G.H.奥威尔和其他大众化的画报思想家和政论小说家，我无法理解为什么我的每一本书都毫无例外地让评论家们忙于寻找那些多少有些名气的名字以作出充满激情的比较。过去三十年中他们把这些名字投向我（仅仅列出几个并无伤大雅的名字）：果戈里，托尔斯泰，乔伊斯，伏尔泰，萨德，斯丹达尔，巴尔扎克，拜伦，普鲁斯特，克莱斯特，玛丽·麦卡锡，梅雷 迪思（！），塞万提斯，查理·卓别林，普希金，甚至还有塞巴斯蒂安·奈特①。但是有一位作者从未被与我有关地提起过——这是我要承认在我写这本书时对我有影响的惟一一位，我也对其感激不尽的作家，说来就是那位忧郁的，夸张的，智慧的，风趣的，有魔力的，总而言之令人愉快的皮尔·DELALANDE ——我虚构的名字。如果有一天我编一本满是定义的字，要找些单字做字头的话，需要一个字头的一条值得珍爱的定义就是“节略、扩充、或者更改、或者使被更改，以便在翻译自己的作品时有所改进”。大体说来，改动的欲望与译文和原文出现的时间差成正比增加，但当儿子让我检查这本书的译本而我不得不重新阅读俄文原稿时，我松了口气，感到我不需要与创造性修改这个恶魔打交道。1935年我的俄文 短语准确表达了那些幻觉，而把它译成英语时惟一有益的更改按惯例就行了，因为英语好像不像俄语那样做作就能表达清楚。我儿子证明了自己是非常通顺的译者。我们之间达成一致：重要的是要忠于原作，不论结果多么怪诞。学究万岁，让那些以为只需“精神”保留（而其本身变为无知、粗俗的欢闹——比如莫斯科的郊区，而莎士比亚被丑化为只是耍弄国王的魔鬼而已）则万事大吉的傻瓜滚蛋吧。 《斩首的邀请》只是真空中的小提琴。俗人会把它看作戏法。老人会马上抛开它转向浪漫故事和公众人物的生活。没有俱乐部女会员会喜欢它。心怀不正的人都会在小埃米身上看到洛丽塔②（早熟的性感姑娘——译者），维也纳巫医的信徒会在自己的公共罪过及PROGRESIVNOE教育的实践中对它暗笑。但是（正如‘DISCOURS SUR LES OMBRES’的作者对灯光作出的评论）：我知道（JE CONNAIS） 几个（QUELQUES）读者会跳起来，弄乱头发。 于亚利桑那州

A rich evocation of Nabokov's life and times, even as it offers incisive insights into his major works, including LOLITA, PNIN, DESPAIR, THE GIFT and others.

(Book Jacket Status: Jacketed)When it was published in 1955, Lolita immediately became a cause célèbre because of the freedom and sophistication with which it handled the unusual erotic predilections of its protagonist. But Vladimir Nabokov's wise, ironic, elegant masterpiece owes its stature as one of the twentieth century's novels of record not to the controversy its material aroused but to its author's use of that material to tell a love story almost shocking in its beauty and tenderness. Awe and exhilaration–along with heartbreak and mordant wit–abound in this account of the aging Humbert Humbert's obsessive, devouring, and doomed passion for the nymphet Dolores Haze. Lolita is also the story of a hypercivilized European colliding with the cheerful barbarism of postwar America, but most of all, it is a meditation on love–love as outrage and hallucination, madness and transformation.With an Introduction by Martin Amis From the Hardcover edition.

When it was published in 1955, Lolita immediately became a cause célèbre because of the freedom and sophistication with which it handled the unusual erotic predilections of its protagonist. But Vladimir Nabokov's wise, ironic, elegant masterpiece owes its stature as one of the twentieth century's novels of record not to the controversy its material aroused but to its author's use of that material to tell a love story almost shocking in its beauty and tenderness. Awe and exhilaration–along with heartbreak and mordant wit–abound in this account of the aging Humbert Humbert's obsessive, devouring, and doomed passion for the nymphet Dolores Haze. Lolita is also the story of a hypercivilized European colliding with the cheerful barbarism of postwar America, but most of all, it is a meditation on love–love as outrage and hallucination, madness and transformation. With an Introduction by Martin Amis

《望》和我的他作品一样，不含有对社会的评价不公然提出什么思想含。它不升人的精神质，也不给人指导出一条正当的出路。它比艳丽、庸俗的小说有少得多的“思想”，那些小说一会大吹大擂，一会儿又被哄赶下台。热情很高的弗洛伊德学说的信奉会认为他从我的置已久的文稿中发现了形状新奇的东西，或者维也纳炸小牛肉式的梦，然而，如果仔细看一看和想一想，原来只不过是我的经纪人制造的一个嘲弄人的幻景。让我再补充一句，防万一，研究文学“流派”的专家们次应该聪明地避免随意给我加上“德国印象派影响”：我不懂德文，从没有读过印象派作家的作品——不管他们是谁。另一方面，我懂法文，如有人把我的赫尔曼称为“存在主义之父”，我将会兴趣盎然。

《马申卡》是我的第一部小说。我是在柏林开始写这本书的，那是在一九二五年春我结婚后不久，到次年年初完成……众所周知，初次进行创作的人具有把自己的经历写进作品的强烈倾向，他把自己或者一共替代者放进他的第一部小说，这样做与其说是由于现成题材的吸引力，不如说是为了摆脱自我后可以去轻装从事更美好的事情。这是我接受的极少数的一般规则之一。由于俄国非同一般得遥远，由于思乡在人的一生中始终是你痴迷的伴侣，我已习惯于在公众场合忍受这个伴侣的令人肠断的怪癖，我承认自己对这部处女作在情感上的强烈依恋，丝毫不为之感到困窘。