Literary People discussion

Looking forward to hearing your first impressions of Nabokov's book -- he is one of my favorite authors, and this book promises to be plenty controversial.

First impression (based off of the first three chapters): Unsure. I don't know if it is the translation that I have, or if I'm just not getting it, but so far, I don't think I know what is even going on...

I'll keep plugging away and see if I understand it any better in a few chapters.

I am getting the sensation, too, that the happenings are vague and confusing. To be honest, at about 10 pages in I am starting to regret beginning this book. But, Nabokov is such a master that I must carry on and see what he has in store!

Jenn

I'm not sure how it happened, but suddenly I am fourteen chapters in this book and I am HOOKED. Van and Ada's relationship is so strange. The general feeling of the environment in this book reminds me of The Turn of the Screw, probably because it is the most recent book I've read with a house that seems to be a character in itself, a boy character who has been at boarding school, a governess, and the beautiful grounds. The similarities are striking, and I'm finding myself enjoying this book for the same reasons that I enjoyed The Turn of the Screw.

I will say, I feel like I would understand more of the nuances of the story if I were fluent in French AND Russian. If this is a translation convention, it is one that I don't prefer, because every time I come across a phrase in either of the two languages, I feel myself pulled out of the story because I spend that extra amount of time trying to figure out (from my very rudimentary understanding for French and Russian) what the phrase means, or looking it up.

I'm to a point in the story where I am seeing the beginnings of the incestuous relationship, and Nabakov is surprising me, over and over again, because the writing is titillating, and borders on romantic, and then I have to remind myself that the two are children, and related to each other.

I wasn't so sure when I started this book. But now, I NEED to know what happens next!