Vladimir Nabokov: The Russian Years

by Brian Boyd

Book Overview

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...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0691067945
• ISBN13: 9780691067940
• Release Date: August 1990
• Publisher: Princeton University Press
• Length: 619 Pages
• Weight: 2.86 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.9" x 6.0" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Probably the definitive Nabokov biography for years to come

The man himself once said, "Biographies are generally fun to write, less fun to read." The implication is that the person who authors the biography becomes so immersed in the life of their subject that biographies end up being labors of love. However, take that biography and assign it to a student...I would have to say that this two-volume biography of Nabokov is the mathematical proof that disproves the formula above. Boyd plays the role of historian/biographer, spending time explaining the political scene of Russia early on in N's life, and traces the movements of the most significant person in N's first twenty years; his father. Of course, this is probably out of necessity considering his father's position in the whole political mish-mash that was fin-de-siecle Russia. I might gripe and say that there's too much attention paid to the politics, but that's because I'm an English major, not a historian or a politician, and I'm reading for pleasure. Were I reading for a thesis, these excerpts would be invaluable.I'm thrilled about the chapters of Russian emigre life in Europe following the Bolshevik Revolution. Not only does it trace the influence that wafts through N's early stuff (and follows through his life), but it also gives us a taste of the climate of those years, plus a roster of sorts of who was part of that microcosm. This is going to be, in my estimation, a highly researched period of literature, once it becomes fashionable that is, and this biography will be a resource for all those students looking for a glimpse into that world. Studies in Nabokov are really beginning to blossom, and this will spur interest in that era as well.N's life is portrayed as an emerging talent, rather than a natural genius who could command language and characters as well at 20 as at 70. This humanizes Nabokov, a figure who can sometimes seem a little god-like to his devotees. Expelling mist and myth is the mark of a good biography, next to joyously reporting the life of the subject. The analysis provided by Boyd in the sections dealing with early literature (such as the comparative criticism of his first novel "Mary" and the story "Return of Chorb") is revealing in this case because he can explain what Nabokov lacks here, or does not do so well early on. Extensive references and a collection of satisfying photographs complete the package. One of the best photos being a shot of the Rohzdestveno manor that Nabokov inherited from his Uncle Vasily at age 17. A 17 year-old with his own mansion. Can you say harem?

Great book- Even better than Nabokov himself, at times

Having read what little Nabokov anyone has read (Lolita) I exchanged this book for a Bogart biography I received as birthday present. I was hooked and, having read the whole book through in a few days, I bought the second volume and I wasn't let down. The book is a jewel and Nabokov becomes almost as close an acquaintance of the reader as Johnson became per Boswell's book. The elegiac childhood that Nabokov enjoyed as the son of an upper class family of political liberals and Russian patriots is hard to imagine given the awfulness of Russian history since the 1905. After the death of his grandfather Nabokov became a millionaire at age 10. His family was close knit and loving (which may explain his deep love for his wife Véra and his son Dmitri, named after Vladimir's father). The Nabokovs managed to escape Russia from their Crimean summer house and eventually ended up in Germany, where they endured hardship and persecution. Nabokov's father, who had been an Education Minister during Kerensky's brief democratic administration, was murdered by an extreme-nationalist from the "Black Hundreds", a paramilitary organisation. Amazingly, Nabokov never bored to learn German although he lived in Germany for twenty years because he felt German would destroy his gift for Russian. His French was flawless, though (he died in French Switzerland). His meeting of the beautiful, brilliant Véra is touching, a rare moment of perfection on this cursed globe, and they became a very close couple. Mrs Nabokov was much more than a wife: she was a soul-mate and a loving collaborator in all Nabokov's efforts. Nabokov, in spite of his poverty managed to continue to live with aristocratic non-chalance and was always able to afford extensive and elaborate holidays that nowadays are only possible for the very well-to-do. The book ends as the Nabokovs and young Dmitri move to America, barely escaping France before the German invasion. Better times were yet to come, and they are aptly told in the second volume.Most of the books Nabokov wrote in this period were in Russian and thus they have not been as widely divulged as his books in English. I can't appreciate their quality, not reading Russian, but Boyd notes many references of experts which regarded them as some of the best writing in Russian in the 20th century, and more deserving of a Nobel prize than either Pasternak or Solzhenitzn.The title of my review will probably be deplored by many Nabokov fans, but in fact I was deeply attracted to Nabokov's elegance, charm and tolerance, by his revulsion to snobbery (he was always annoyed by some Europeans' disdain for US culture or some Russian emigrés' disgust at the accent of Jewish Russian speakers), by his unerring political sense that led him to distrust most extremisms of the last century (he was one of the few important authors not to have written blatant political nonsense), and very much enjoyed his curious interest in butterflies (his fantasy of a lavish, multi-volume En

Brilliant

Both volumes of this set are excellent. This is the way literary biography should be done. It's so good, in fact, that you wouldn't necessarily have to be a huge Nabokov fan to want to read both books. (Of course, I am a diehard Nabokovian, so I raced through them even more eagerly.) Bravo to Brian Boyd.

A Brilliant Critical Biography

Brian Boyd's work on Nabokov has been hailed by scholars around the globe; this biography (and the companion volume on The American Years) proves Boyd's brilliance.When I purchased the two volumes of the biography, I was a bit intimidated by their sheer size. The Russian Years alone is nearly 700 pages, and The American Years even larger. Yet I soon found myself enthralled in Boyd's detailed portrait of Nabokov and his work.In The Russian Years, Boyd, as a good non-Freudian reader of Nabokov (as Nabokov would have wished), provides intimate details of Nabokov's early family life and his trials and tribulations as an emigre writer in Europe. Boyd provides a fascinating account of Nabokov's father, who's assassination would impact young Nabokov so much (and later, provide inspiration for the "assassination" in Pale Fire). But Boyd, thankfully, does not try to explain Nabokov through the death of his father; he meticulously lays out the facts and builds a complex portait of the man, and his fiction.To be honest, I was far more interested in reading about Nabokov's American years, but after reading this book, I am grateful to Boyd for his serious scholarship, his lively prose, and his close analysis of Nabokov's oeuvre. I'm glad that I didn't pass up the chance to read this wonderful work.

The Biography Nabokov Deserves!

In my review of Vladimir Nabokov: The Russian Years, I say that "I am grateful to Boyd for his serious scholarship, his lively prose, and his close analysis of Nabokov's oeuvre." That comment applies wholeheartedly to this volume as well.As a professor of literature at Cornell, Nabokov taught his students to focus on the details of literature. He taught them that the small details of a fictional world were far more important than broad generalizations about literary trends. One infamous midterm question asked the students to describe the wallpaper in a character's bedroom--a description that was only provided in a single line of the novel. Nabokov believed that good readers paid attention to details like this, and specific, startling detail was what made reality beautiful. I think Nabokov would have approved of Boyd's detailed, beautiful biography.Boyd is a good Nabokovian. He sees the details of Nabokov's life and presents them to us vividly. He also analyzes the details of Nabokov's work, and provides us with lucid, and often surprising, readings and interpretations's of Nabokov's novels.In The American Years Boyd reminds us why Nabokov was once hailed as perhaps the greatest writer of the latter half of the 20th Century. And after staying up all night to finish the enthralling story of Nabokov's life, I would have to say that Boyd is right. Nabokov will certainly be remembered as one of the greats, and Boyd has given Nabokov the biography he deserves.