In this Book
Nabokov: The Mystery of Literary Structures
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Vladimir Nabokov described the literature course he taught at Cornell as "a kind of detective investigation of the mystery of literary structures." Leona Toker here pursues a similar investigation of the enigmatic structures of Nabokov's own fiction. According to Toker, most previous critics stressed either Nabokov's concern with form or the humanistic side of his works, but rarely if ever the two together. In sensitive and revealing readings of ten novels, Toker demonstrates that the need to reconcile the human element with aesthetic or metaphysical pursuits is a constant theme of Nabokov's and that the tension between technique and content is itself a key to his fiction. Written with verve and precision, Toker's book begins with Pnin and follows the circular pattern that is one of her subject's own favored devices.
Table of Contents
Cover
Cover
Title Page, Copyright, Dedication, Epigraph
Title Page
Dedication
Contents
Epigraph
Preface
Abbreviations
1. Introduction
Preface
Abbreviations
2. Pnin: The Quest That Overrides the Goal
1. Introduction
3. Mary: "Without Any Passport"
2. Pnin: The Quest That Overrides the Goal
4. King, Queen, Knave, or Lust under the Linden
5. The Defense: Secret Asymmetries
3. Mary: âWithout Any Passportâ
6. Glory: "Good Example of How Metaphysics Can Fool You"
4. King, Queen, Knave, or Lust under the Linden
5. The Defense: Secret Asymmetries
7. Laughter in the Dark: Guinea Pigs and Galley Slaves
6. Glory: âGood Example of How Metaphysics Can Fool Youâ
8. Invitation to a Beheading: "Nameless Existence, Intangible Substance"
7. Laughter in the Dark: Guinea Pigs and Galley Slaves
9. The Gift: Models of Infinity
8. Invitation to a Beheading: âNameless Existence, Intangible Substanceâ
10. Bend Sinister: The "Inner" Problem
9. The Gift: Models of Infinity
11. "Reader! Bruder!": Broodings on the Rhetoric of Lolita
10. Bend Sinister: The âInnerâ Problem
12. Conclusion
Bibliography of Works Cited
11. âReader! Bruder!â: Broodings on the Rhetoric of Lolita
Index
12. Conclusion
Bibliography of Works Cited
Index
Copyright
| ISBN | 9781501707032 |
|---|---|
| Related ISBN(s) | 9780801422119, 9781501707049, 9781501707223 |
| DOI | 10.1353/book.47555 |
| MARC Record | Download |
| OCLC | 586079385 |
| Pages | 262 |
| Launched on MUSE | 2016-08-23 |
| Language | English |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Creative Commons | CC-BY-NC-ND |
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