Has anybody read anything by Nabokov apart from Lolita?

Has anybody read anything by Nabokov apart from Lolita?

What do you recommend?

I've read Pnin, Ada or Ardor, Speak Memory, and Pale Fire. I would recommend all of them.

invitation to a beheading is really enjoyable and short as well. like a more arch kafka
ada is probably the best written one and also has more pedo sex if you're after more of that (this time with incest!)
i didn't care for pale fire but people seem to love it
king, queen, knave was good

I found King, Queen, Knave to be extremely enjoyable, as well as Luzhin's Defence. Tead the first if you're interested in a love triangle and irony, and the second uf you're interested in chess and autism (and a shocking emding). Camera Obscura is interesting from the point of view of describing how a blind man would feel, but the little girl was so insufferable, holy damn, worse than Lolita.

Read Pale Fire

Pale Fire is amazing I liked it more than Lolita. King, Queen, Knave is good too.

>What do you recommend?

Just about everything. You can skip the non-famous short stories if you aren't obsessed with him, I suppose. And yes, I'm even recommending "Speak, Memory" and "Lectures on Literature."

Ada, or Ardor is his finest work I'd say.

How are you supposed to read PF? I slogged through the "prologue" and poem and then moved onto a different book. Is there supposed to be a story that materializes somewhere in there?

the story is in the footnotes, you're meant to read them and piece it all together
personally i found it tiresome and too self-consciously clever to enjoy properly
maybe i was just in a bad mood when i read it

I recommend his entire body of work.

So there, pick one and read it. It'll be good.

Cool, I thought as much. I've never gotten a straight answer about that though, so thanks friendo

>muh stories

Pnin sucked. It was probably one of the worst novels I've read that came highly acclaimed.

I thought Lolita was a lot of fun.
What is the most "fun" book by him?

Well the prose in those sections was nothing to write home about. What else would I expect to be in there?

I read Invitation to a Beheading. It had its pleasures but as a whole, I didn't like it that much.

Nabokovian fun? Pale Fire. I'm assuming you aren't talking about plot points but more about his puzzles and wordplay. If so, PF, defo. If not, The Enchanter or Laughter in the Dark.

I borrowed Bend Sinister from a friend. It's okay, the ending is pretty striking, but it doesn't seem to be one of his stronger works.

If you liked Lolita, read Ada or Ardor. I've read a bunch of his other books and Ada's the only one that measured up to Lolita (and actually bettered it too).

Pnin is such a great book. Also, I imagine that it is easy to miss some symbolism / have trouble understanding his word plays if you do not speak russian (of course, that is true for a lot of his works, but stuff like squirrels reappearing through the novel and the name of his wife being Mira Belochkina, which is derived from the russian word for squirrel is just too important).

Thanks senpai, I'll check those out.

I've read everything he's written except anything published posthumously.

Favorites aside from Lolita are Speak, Memory, Pale Fire, Transparent Things, Pnin, and The Gift.

I've read
Pnin
Speak, Memory
The Luzhin Defence
Laughter in the Dark
Invitation to a beheading
Lo
Pale Fire

I would particularily recommend Laughter in the Dark

>What do you recommend?

That you go back to Rebbit.

Ada or Ardor is his best by far.

Laughter in the Dark is a template for so many themes he'd explore later (including those in Lolita) and holds its own as story too

Finished Ada or ardor last night. It's caviar to Lolita's cherry pie.

Does that mean it was better or worse?

poo

Anybody read his first book Anna?