Nabokov and the Novel

Ellen Pifer challenges the widely held assumption that Nabokov is a writer more interested in literary games than in living human beings. She demonstrates how Nabokov arranges the details of his fiction to explore human psychology and moral truth, and she argues her case with style. Focusing on the most highly wrought and aesthetically self-conscious of Nabokov's novels, Pifer shows how he deploys artifice to bring into bold relief what is real. In her chapter on __King, Queen, Knave__ she reveals Nabokov's radical distinction between genuine and simulated human existence. She shows how, in __Invitation to a Beheading__ and __Bend Sinister__, he contrasts "grotesque design" of collective existence with the individul's radiant internal life. In __Despair__, __Lolita__, and __Pale Fire__ Nabokov's parody of the double illuminates the unique source of human consciousness. In __Ada__, as in the earlier __Laughter in the Dark__, the inhuman nature of aesthetic bliss qualifies its delights. Making clear the moral perception of reality that lies behind Nabokov's artistic strategies, Pifer offers a new assessment of Nabokov's fiction and of his contribution to the tradition of the novel. Preface Contents CHAPTER I. The Question of Character CHAPTER II. Consciousness, Real Life, and Fairytale Freedom: King, Queen, Knave CHAPTER III. Breaking the Law of Averages: Invitation to a Beheading CHAPTER IV. Putting Two and One Together: Bend Sinister CHAPTER V. Singularity and the Double’s Pale Ghost: From Despair to Pale Fire CHAPTER VI. The Question of Realism CHAPTER VII. Heaven, Hell, and the Realm of Art: Adas Dark Paradise CHAPTER VIII. On the Dark Side of Aesthetic Bliss: Nabokov's Humanism Notes Index