1.
Vladimir Nabokov
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Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov was a Russian-American novelist and entomologist. His first nine novels were in Russian, and he achieved prominence after he began writing English prose. He was a finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction seven times, Nabokov was an expert lepidopterist and composer of chess problems. Nabokov was born on 22 April 1899, in Saint Petersburg, b to a wealthy and his father was a leader of the pre-Revolutionary liberal Constitutional Democratic Party and authored numerous books and articles about criminal law and politics. His cousins included the composer Nicolas Nabokov and his paternal grandfather, Dmitry Nabokov, had been Russias Justice Minister in the reign of Alexander II. His paternal grandmother was the Baltic German Baroness Maria von Korff, Vladimir was the familys eldest and favorite child, with four younger siblings, Sergey, Olga, Elena and Kiril. Sergey would be killed in a Nazi concentration camp in 1945, Olga is recalled by Ayn Rand as having been a supporter of constitutional monarchy who had first awakened Rands interest in politics. Nabokov spent his childhood and youth in Saint Petersburg and at the country estate Vyra near Siverskaya and his childhood, which he had called perfect and cosmopolitan, was remarkable in several ways. The family spoke Russian, English, and French in their household and he relates that the first English book his mother read to him was Misunderstood by Florence Montgomery. In fact, much to his fathers chagrin, Nabokov could read. While the family was nominally Orthodox, they felt no religious fervor, Nabokovs adolescence was also the period in which his first serious literary endeavors were made. In 1916, Nabokov had his first collection of published, Stikhi. At the time, Nabokov was attending Tenishev school in Saint Petersburg and they lived at a friends estate and in September 1918 moved to Livadiya, at the time part of the Ukrainian Republic, Nabokovs father became a minister of justice in the Crimean Regional Government. After the withdrawal of the German Army and the defeat of the White Army and they settled briefly in England and Vladimir enrolled in Trinity College, Cambridge, first studying zoology, then Slavic and Romance languages. His examination results on the first part of the Tripos, taken at the end of year, were a starred first. He sat the second part of the exam in his third year, Nabokov feared that he might fail the exam, but his script was marked second-class. His final examination result was second-class, and his BA conferred in 1922, Nabokov later drew on his Cambridge experiences to write several works, including the novels Glory and The Real Life of Sebastian Knight. In 1920, Nabokovs family moved to Berlin, where his set up the émigré newspaper Rul. Nabokov followed them to Berlin two years later, after completing his studies at Cambridge
2.
Harcourt (publisher)
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Harcourt was a United States publishing firm with a long history of publishing fiction and nonfiction for adults and children. The company was last based in San Diego, California, with offices in New York City and Orlando. From 1919 to 1982, it was based in New York City, Houghton Mifflin acquired Harcourt in 2007. It incorporated the Harcourt name to form Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, as of 2012, all Harcourt books that have been re-released are under the Houghton Mifflin Harcourt name. The Harcourt Childrens Books division left the name intact on all of its books under that name as part of HMH, schools Education and Trade Publishing parts of Harcourt Education were sold by Reed Elsevier to Houghton Mifflin Riverdeep Group. Harcourt Assessment and Harcourt Education International were acquired by Pearson, the education and information company. The company later moved to New York City, where it became a test publisher, much of the companys success was based on the work of Arthur S. Otis. He was best known for the tests he developed for the U. S. Army. Millions of World War I draftees took Otis tests, World Book Company became the first publisher of group-administered tests measuring mental ability when it published Otiss Group Intelligence Scale in 1918. Otis became a World Book employee in 1921, by 1960, World Book had a portfolio of educational tests, including the Stanford Achievement Test, the Metropolitan Achievement Test and the Otis Mental Ability Test. Alfred Harcourt and Donald Brace were friends at Columbia College of Columbia University in New York, the two worked for Henry Holt and Company before founding their own publishing company in 1919, Harcourt, Brace & Howe, along with editor Will David Howe. After Howe left the company in 1921, the changed the name to Harcourt. The name Harcourt, Brace & World was introduced in 1931, by 1960, Harcourt Brace led the market in high school textbook publishing, but had little presence in the elementary school market. This strategic action improved the position of Harcourt Brace because World Book was an elementary textbook publisher. In 1970, the company was known as Harcourt Brace Jovanovich and that same year, the company acquired The Psychological Corporation. Under Jovanovichs leadership, the company diversified into non-publishing businesses such as insurance and it also bought several theme parks—including SeaWorld, which it acquired in 1976 for $46 million. The company divested its theme park division in 1989 for $1.1 billion, Harcourt also published mass-market paperback books with Pyramid Books, which it bought out in 1974 and renamed Jove Books. It sold this section to the Putnam Berkley Group in 1979, in 1991, General Cinema Corporation, a diversified company, acquired Harcourt Brace Jovanovich for more than $1.5 billion
3.
International Standard Book Number
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The International Standard Book Number is a unique numeric commercial book identifier. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an e-book, a paperback and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, the method of assigning an ISBN is nation-based and varies from country to country, often depending on how large the publishing industry is within a country. The initial ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 based upon the 9-digit Standard Book Numbering created in 1966, the 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108. Occasionally, a book may appear without a printed ISBN if it is printed privately or the author does not follow the usual ISBN procedure, however, this can be rectified later. Another identifier, the International Standard Serial Number, identifies periodical publications such as magazines, the ISBN configuration of recognition was generated in 1967 in the United Kingdom by David Whitaker and in 1968 in the US by Emery Koltay. The 10-digit ISBN format was developed by the International Organization for Standardization and was published in 1970 as international standard ISO2108, the United Kingdom continued to use the 9-digit SBN code until 1974. The ISO on-line facility only refers back to 1978, an SBN may be converted to an ISBN by prefixing the digit 0. For example, the edition of Mr. J. G. Reeder Returns, published by Hodder in 1965, has SBN340013818 -340 indicating the publisher,01381 their serial number. This can be converted to ISBN 0-340-01381-8, the check digit does not need to be re-calculated, since 1 January 2007, ISBNs have contained 13 digits, a format that is compatible with Bookland European Article Number EAN-13s. An ISBN is assigned to each edition and variation of a book, for example, an ebook, a paperback, and a hardcover edition of the same book would each have a different ISBN. The ISBN is 13 digits long if assigned on or after 1 January 2007, a 13-digit ISBN can be separated into its parts, and when this is done it is customary to separate the parts with hyphens or spaces. Separating the parts of a 10-digit ISBN is also done with either hyphens or spaces, figuring out how to correctly separate a given ISBN number is complicated, because most of the parts do not use a fixed number of digits. ISBN issuance is country-specific, in that ISBNs are issued by the ISBN registration agency that is responsible for country or territory regardless of the publication language. Some ISBN registration agencies are based in national libraries or within ministries of culture, in other cases, the ISBN registration service is provided by organisations such as bibliographic data providers that are not government funded. In Canada, ISBNs are issued at no cost with the purpose of encouraging Canadian culture. In the United Kingdom, United States, and some countries, where the service is provided by non-government-funded organisations. Australia, ISBNs are issued by the library services agency Thorpe-Bowker
4.
Drama
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Drama is the specific mode of fiction represented in performance. The term comes from a Greek word meaning action, which is derived from I do, the two masks associated with drama represent the traditional generic division between comedy and tragedy. They are symbols of the ancient Greek Muses, Thalia, Thalia was the Muse of comedy, while Melpomene was the Muse of tragedy. Considered as a genre of poetry in general, the mode has been contrasted with the epic. The use of drama in a narrow sense to designate a specific type of play dates from the modern era. Drama in this sense refers to a play that is neither a comedy nor a tragedy—for example and it is this narrower sense that the film and television industries, along with film studies, adopted to describe drama as a genre within their respective media. Radio drama has been used in both senses—originally transmitted in a performance, it has also been used to describe the more high-brow. The enactment of drama in theatre, performed by actors on a stage before an audience, presupposes collaborative modes of production, the structure of dramatic texts, unlike other forms of literature, is directly influenced by this collaborative production and collective reception. The early modern tragedy Hamlet by Shakespeare and the classical Athenian tragedy Oedipus Rex by Sophocles are among the masterpieces of the art of drama, a modern example is Long Days Journey into Night by Eugene O’Neill. Closet drama describes a form that is intended to be read, in improvisation, the drama does not pre-exist the moment of performance, performers devise a dramatic script spontaneously before an audience. Western drama originates in classical Greece, the theatrical culture of the city-state of Athens produced three genres of drama, tragedy, comedy, and the satyr play. Their origins remain obscure, though by the 5th century BCE they were institutionalised in competitions held as part of celebrating the god Dionysus. The competition for tragedies may have begun as early as 534 BCE, tragic dramatists were required to present a tetralogy of plays, which usually consisted of three tragedies and one satyr play. Comedy was officially recognized with a prize in the competition from 487 to 486 BCE, five comic dramatists competed at the City Dionysia, each offering a single comedy. Ancient Greek comedy is traditionally divided between old comedy, middle comedy and new comedy, following the expansion of the Roman Republic into several Greek territories between 270–240 BCE, Rome encountered Greek drama. While Greek drama continued to be performed throughout the Roman period, from the beginning of the empire, however, interest in full-length drama declined in favour of a broader variety of theatrical entertainments. The first important works of Roman literature were the tragedies and comedies that Livius Andronicus wrote from 240 BCE, five years later, Gnaeus Naevius also began to write drama. No plays from either writer have survived, by the beginning of the 2nd century BCE, drama was firmly established in Rome and a guild of writers had been formed
5.
Russia
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Russia, also officially the Russian Federation, is a country in Eurasia. The European western part of the country is more populated and urbanised than the eastern. Russias capital Moscow is one of the largest cities in the world, other urban centers include Saint Petersburg, Novosibirsk, Yekaterinburg, Nizhny Novgorod. Extending across the entirety of Northern Asia and much of Eastern Europe, Russia spans eleven time zones and incorporates a range of environments. It shares maritime borders with Japan by the Sea of Okhotsk, the East Slavs emerged as a recognizable group in Europe between the 3rd and 8th centuries AD. Founded and ruled by a Varangian warrior elite and their descendants, in 988 it adopted Orthodox Christianity from the Byzantine Empire, beginning the synthesis of Byzantine and Slavic cultures that defined Russian culture for the next millennium. Rus ultimately disintegrated into a number of states, most of the Rus lands were overrun by the Mongol invasion. The Soviet Union played a role in the Allied victory in World War II. The Soviet era saw some of the most significant technological achievements of the 20th century, including the worlds first human-made satellite and the launching of the first humans in space. By the end of 1990, the Soviet Union had the second largest economy, largest standing military in the world. It is governed as a federal semi-presidential republic, the Russian economy ranks as the twelfth largest by nominal GDP and sixth largest by purchasing power parity in 2015. Russias extensive mineral and energy resources are the largest such reserves in the world, making it one of the producers of oil. The country is one of the five recognized nuclear weapons states and possesses the largest stockpile of weapons of mass destruction, Russia is a great power as well as a regional power and has been characterised as a potential superpower. The name Russia is derived from Rus, a state populated mostly by the East Slavs. However, this name became more prominent in the later history, and the country typically was called by its inhabitants Русская Земля. In order to distinguish this state from other states derived from it, it is denoted as Kievan Rus by modern historiography, an old Latin version of the name Rus was Ruthenia, mostly applied to the western and southern regions of Rus that were adjacent to Catholic Europe. The current name of the country, Россия, comes from the Byzantine Greek designation of the Kievan Rus, the standard way to refer to citizens of Russia is Russians in English and rossiyane in Russian. There are two Russian words which are translated into English as Russians
6.
Translation
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Translation is the communication of the meaning of a source-language text by means of an equivalent target-language text. While interpreting—the facilitating of oral or sign-language communication between users of different languages—antedates writing, translation began only after the appearance of written literature, there exist partial translations of the Sumerian Epic of Gilgamesh into Southwest Asian languages of the second millennium BCE. Translators always risk inappropriate spill-over of source-language idiom and usage into the target-language translation, on the other hand, spill-overs have imported useful source-language calques and loanwords that have enriched the target languages. Indeed, translators have helped substantially to shape the languages into which they have translated, because of the laboriousness of translation, since the 1940s engineers have sought to automate translation or to mechanically aid the human translator. The rise of the Internet has fostered a world-wide market for services and has facilitated language localization. Translation studies systematically study the theory and practice of translation, the English word translation derives from the Latin word translatio, which comes from trans, across + ferre, to carry or to bring. Thus translatio is a carrying across or a bringing across, in this case, the Germanic languages and some Slavic languages have calqued their words for the concept of translation on translatio. The Romance languages and the remaining Slavic languages have derived their words for the concept of translation from an alternative Latin word, traductio, the Ancient Greek term for translation, μετάφρασις, has supplied English with metaphrase — as contrasted with paraphrase. Metaphrase corresponds, in one of the more recent terminologies, to formal equivalence, nevertheless, metaphrase and paraphrase may be useful as ideal concepts that mark the extremes in the spectrum of possible approaches to translation. Discussions of the theory and practice of translation reach back into antiquity, the ancient Greeks distinguished between metaphrase and paraphrase. Literally graceful, it were an injury to the author that they should be changed, Dryden cautioned, however, against the license of imitation, i. e. of adapted translation, When a painter copies from the life. He has no privilege to alter features and lineaments, despite occasional theoretical diversity, the actual practice of translation has hardly changed since antiquity. The grammatical differences between languages and free-word-order languages have been no impediment in this regard. The particular syntax characteristics of a source language are adjusted to the syntactic requirements of the target language. When a target language has lacked terms that are found in a language, translators have borrowed those terms. However, due to shifts in ecological niches of words, an etymology is sometimes misleading as a guide to current meaning in one or the other language. For example, the English actual should not be confused with the cognate French actuel, the Polish aktualny, the Swedish aktuell, the translators role as a bridge for carrying across values between cultures has been discussed at least since Terence, the 2nd-century-BCE Roman adapter of Greek comedies. The translators role is, however, by no means a passive, mechanical one, the main ground seems to be the concept of parallel creation found in critics such as Cicero
7.
Russian language
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Russian is an East Slavic language and an official language in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and many minor or unrecognised territories. Russian belongs to the family of Indo-European languages and is one of the four living members of the East Slavic languages, written examples of Old East Slavonic are attested from the 10th century and beyond. It is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia and the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages and it is also the largest native language in Europe, with 144 million native speakers in Russia, Ukraine and Belarus. Russian is the eighth most spoken language in the world by number of native speakers, the language is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Russian is also the second most widespread language on the Internet after English, Russian distinguishes between consonant phonemes with palatal secondary articulation and those without, the so-called soft and hard sounds. This distinction is found between pairs of almost all consonants and is one of the most distinguishing features of the language, another important aspect is the reduction of unstressed vowels. Russian is a Slavic language of the Indo-European family and it is a lineal descendant of the language used in Kievan Rus. From the point of view of the language, its closest relatives are Ukrainian, Belarusian, and Rusyn. An East Slavic Old Novgorod dialect, although vanished during the 15th or 16th century, is considered to have played a significant role in the formation of modern Russian. In the 19th century, the language was often called Great Russian to distinguish it from Belarusian, then called White Russian and Ukrainian, however, the East Slavic forms have tended to be used exclusively in the various dialects that are experiencing a rapid decline. In some cases, both the East Slavic and the Church Slavonic forms are in use, with different meanings. For details, see Russian phonology and History of the Russian language and it is also regarded by the United States Intelligence Community as a hard target language, due to both its difficulty to master for English speakers and its critical role in American world policy. The standard form of Russian is generally regarded as the modern Russian literary language, mikhail Lomonosov first compiled a normalizing grammar book in 1755, in 1783 the Russian Academys first explanatory Russian dictionary appeared. By the mid-20th century, such dialects were forced out with the introduction of the education system that was established by the Soviet government. Despite the formalization of Standard Russian, some nonstandard dialectal features are observed in colloquial speech. Thus, the Russian language is the 6th largest in the world by number of speakers, after English, Mandarin, Hindi/Urdu, Spanish, Russian is one of the six official languages of the United Nations. Education in Russian is still a choice for both Russian as a second language and native speakers in Russia as well as many of the former Soviet republics. Russian is still seen as an important language for children to learn in most of the former Soviet republics, samuel P. Huntington wrote in the Clash of Civilizations, During the heyday of the Soviet Union, Russian was the lingua franca from Prague to Hanoi
8.
Blank verse
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Blank verse is poetry written with regular metrical but unrhymed lines, almost always in iambic pentameter. The first documented use of verse in the English language was by Henry Howard. He was possibly inspired by the Latin original, as classical Latin verse did not use rhyme, or he may have inspired by the Italian verse form of versi sciolti. The play Arden of Faversham is an example of end-stopped blank verse. The 1561 play Gorboduc by Thomas Norton and Thomas Sackville was the first English play to use blank verse, christopher Marlowe was the first English author to make full use of the potential of blank verse. Miltonic blank verse was imitated in the 18th century by such poets as James Thomson. Romantic English poets such as William Wordsworth, Percy Bysshe Shelley, among American poets, Hart Crane and Wallace Stevens are notable for using blank verse in extended compositions at a time when many other poets were turning to free verse. Marlowe and then Shakespeare developed its potential greatly in the late 16th century, Shakespeare developed this feature, and also the potential of blank verse for abrupt and irregular speech. For example, in exchange from King John, one blank verse line is broken between two characters, My lord. Shakespeare also used enjambment increasingly often in his verse, and in his last plays was given to using feminine endings, all of this made his later blank verse extremely rich and varied. This very free treatment of blank verse was imitated by Shakespeares contemporaries, however, Shakespearean blank verse was used with some success by John Webster and Thomas Middleton in their plays. Ben Jonson, meanwhile, used a blank verse with less enjambment in his great comedies Volpone. Blank verse was not much used in the poetry of the 17th century until Paradise Lost, in which Milton used it with much license. What though the field be lost, All is not lost, the unconquerable Will, And study of revenge, immortal hate, And courage never to submit or yield, Milton also wrote Paradise Regained and parts of Samson Agonistes in blank verse. The best examples of verse from this time are probably John Drydens tragedy All for Love. An example notable as much for its failure with the public as for its subsequent influence on the form is John Dyers The Fleece. At the close of the 18th century, William Cowper ushered in a renewal of blank verse with his volume of kaleidoscopic meditations, The Task, published in 1784. After Shakespeare and Milton, Cowper was the influence on the next major poets in blank verse
9.
Robert Falcon Scott
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On the first expedition, he set a new southern record by marching to latitude 82°S and discovered the Polar Plateau, on which the South Pole is located. During the second venture, Scott led a party of five which reached the South Pole on 17 January 1912, on their return journey, Scotts party discovered plant fossils, proving Antarctica was once forested and joined to other continents. Before his appointment to lead the Discovery Expedition, Scott had followed the career of an officer in the Royal Navy. Having taken this step, his name became associated with the Antarctic. Following the news of his death, Scott became a celebrated hero, in the closing decades of the 20th century, Scott became a figure of controversy, with questions raised about his competence and character. Scott was born on 6 June 1868, the child out of six and elder son of John Edward and Hannah Scott of Stoke Damerel. Scotts father was a brewer and magistrate, there were also naval and military traditions in the family, Scotts grandfather and four uncles all having served in the army or navy. John Scotts prosperity came from the ownership of a small Plymouth brewery which he inherited from his father, Robert Falcon Scotts early childhood years were spent in comfort, but some years later, when he was establishing his naval career, the family would suffer serious financial misfortune. In accordance with the tradition, Robert and his younger brother Archie were predestined for careers in the armed services. Having passed these exams Scott began his career in 1881. In July 1883, Scott passed out of Britannia as a midshipman, by October, he was en route to South Africa to join HMS Boadicea, the flagship of the Cape squadron, the first of several ships on which he served during his midshipman years. On this occasion,1 March 1887, Markham observed Midshipman Scotts cutter winning that race across the bay. Markhams habit was to collect likely young naval officers with a view to their undertaking polar exploration work in the future and he was impressed by Scotts intelligence, enthusiasm and charm, and the 18-year-old midshipman was duly noted. In March 1888 Scott passed his examinations for sub-lieutenant, with four first class out of five. His career progressed smoothly, with service on ships and promotion to lieutenant in 1889. In 1891, after a spell in foreign waters, he applied for the two-year torpedo training course on HMS Vernon. He graduated with first class certificates in both the theory and practical examinations, a small blot occurred in the summer of 1893 when, while commanding a torpedo boat, Scott ran it aground, a mishap which earned him a mild rebuke. According to Huntford, Scott disappears from records for eight months
10.
British Museum
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The British Museum is dedicated to human history, art and culture, and is located in the Bloomsbury area of London. The British Museum was established in 1753, largely based on the collections of the physician, the museum first opened to the public on 15 January 1759, in Montagu House, on the site of the current building. Although today principally a museum of art objects and antiquities. Its foundations lie in the will of the Irish-born British physician, on 7 June 1753, King George II gave his formal assent to the Act of Parliament which established the British Museum. They were joined in 1757 by the Old Royal Library, now the Royal manuscripts, together these four foundation collections included many of the most treasured books now in the British Library including the Lindisfarne Gospels and the sole surviving copy of Beowulf. The British Museum was the first of a new kind of museum – national, belonging to neither church nor king, freely open to the public, sloanes collection, while including a vast miscellany of objects, tended to reflect his scientific interests. The addition of the Cotton and Harley manuscripts introduced a literary, the body of trustees decided on a converted 17th-century mansion, Montagu House, as a location for the museum, which it bought from the Montagu family for £20,000. The Trustees rejected Buckingham House, on the now occupied by Buckingham Palace, on the grounds of cost. With the acquisition of Montagu House the first exhibition galleries and reading room for scholars opened on 15 January 1759. During the few years after its foundation the British Museum received several gifts, including the Thomason Collection of Civil War Tracts. A list of donations to the Museum, dated 31 January 1784, in the early 19th century the foundations for the extensive collection of sculpture began to be laid and Greek, Roman and Egyptian artefacts dominated the antiquities displays. Gifts and purchases from Henry Salt, British consul general in Egypt, beginning with the Colossal bust of Ramesses II in 1818, many Greek sculptures followed, notably the first purpose-built exhibition space, the Charles Towneley collection, much of it Roman Sculpture, in 1805. In 1816 these masterpieces of art, were acquired by The British Museum by Act of Parliament. The collections were supplemented by the Bassae frieze from Phigaleia, Greece in 1815, the Ancient Near Eastern collection also had its beginnings in 1825 with the purchase of Assyrian and Babylonian antiquities from the widow of Claudius James Rich. The neoclassical architect, Sir Robert Smirke, was asked to draw up plans for an extension to the Museum. For the reception of the Royal Library, and a Picture Gallery over it, and put forward plans for todays quadrangular building, much of which can be seen today. The dilapidated Old Montagu House was demolished and work on the Kings Library Gallery began in 1823, the extension, the East Wing, was completed by 1831. The Museum became a site as Sir Robert Smirkes grand neo-classical building gradually arose
11.
South Pole
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The South Pole, also known as the Geographic South Pole or Terrestrial South Pole, is one of the two points where the Earths axis of rotation intersects its surface. It is the southernmost point on the surface of the Earth, situated on the continent of Antarctica, it is the site of the United States Amundsen–Scott South Pole Station, which was established in 1956 and has been permanently staffed since that year. The Geographic South Pole should not be confused with the South Magnetic Pole, the South Pole is at the center of the Southern Hemisphere. For most purposes, the Geographic South Pole is defined as the point of the two points where the Earths axis of rotation intersects its surface. However, the Earths axis of rotation is actually subject to very small wobbles, the geographic coordinates of the South Pole are usually given simply as 90°S, since its longitude is geometrically undefined and irrelevant. When a longitude is desired, it may be given as 0°, at the South Pole, all directions face north. For this reason, directions at the Pole are given relative to grid north, along tight latitude circles, clockwise is east, and counterclockwise is west, opposite to the North Pole. The Geographic South Pole is located on the continent of Antarctica. It sits atop a featureless, barren, windswept and icy plateau at an altitude of 2,835 metres above sea level, and is located about 1,300 km from the nearest open sea at Bay of Whales. The ice is estimated to be about 2,700 metres thick at the Pole, the polar ice sheet is moving at a rate of roughly 10 metres per year in a direction between 37° and 40° west of grid north, down towards the Weddell Sea. Therefore, the position of the station and other artificial features relative to the geographic pole gradually shift over time. The Geographic South Pole is marked by a stake in the ice alongside a small sign, these are repositioned each year in a ceremony on New Years Day to compensate for the movement of the ice. The sign records the respective dates that Roald Amundsen and Robert F. Scott reached the Pole, followed by a quotation from each man. A new marker stake is designed and fabricated each year by staff at the site, the Ceremonial South Pole is an area set aside for photo opportunities at the South Pole Station. It is located around 180 metres from the Geographic South Pole, Amundsens Tent, The tent was erected by the Norwegian expedition led by Roald Amundsen on its arrival on 14 December 1911. It is currently buried beneath the snow and ice in the vicinity of the Pole and it has been designated a Historic Site or Monument, following a proposal by Norway to the Antarctic Treaty Consultative Meeting. In 1820, several expeditions claimed to have been the first to have sighted Antarctica, with the very first being the Russian expedition led by Faddey Bellingshausen and Mikhail Lazarev. The first landing was probably just over a year later when American Captain John Davis, the basic geography of the Antarctic coastline was not understood until the mid-to-late 19th century
12.
German language
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German is a West Germanic language that is mainly spoken in Central Europe. It is the most widely spoken and official language in Germany, Austria, Switzerland, South Tyrol, the German-speaking Community of Belgium and it is also one of the three official languages of Luxembourg. Major languages which are most similar to German include other members of the West Germanic language branch, such as Afrikaans, Dutch, English, Luxembourgish and it is the second most widely spoken Germanic language, after English. One of the languages of the world, German is the first language of about 95 million people worldwide. The German speaking countries are ranked fifth in terms of publication of new books. German derives most of its vocabulary from the Germanic branch of the Indo-European language family, a portion of German words are derived from Latin and Greek, and fewer are borrowed from French and English. With slightly different standardized variants, German is a pluricentric language, like English, German is also notable for its broad spectrum of dialects, with many unique varieties existing in Europe and also other parts of the world. The history of the German language begins with the High German consonant shift during the migration period, when Martin Luther translated the Bible, he based his translation primarily on the standard bureaucratic language used in Saxony, also known as Meißner Deutsch. Copies of Luthers Bible featured a long list of glosses for each region that translated words which were unknown in the region into the regional dialect. Roman Catholics initially rejected Luthers translation, and tried to create their own Catholic standard of the German language – the difference in relation to Protestant German was minimal. It was not until the middle of the 18th century that a widely accepted standard was created, until about 1800, standard German was mainly a written language, in urban northern Germany, the local Low German dialects were spoken. Standard German, which was different, was often learned as a foreign language with uncertain pronunciation. Northern German pronunciation was considered the standard in prescriptive pronunciation guides though, however, German was the language of commerce and government in the Habsburg Empire, which encompassed a large area of Central and Eastern Europe. Until the mid-19th century, it was essentially the language of townspeople throughout most of the Empire and its use indicated that the speaker was a merchant or someone from an urban area, regardless of nationality. Some cities, such as Prague and Budapest, were gradually Germanized in the years after their incorporation into the Habsburg domain, others, such as Pozsony, were originally settled during the Habsburg period, and were primarily German at that time. Prague, Budapest and Bratislava as well as cities like Zagreb, the most comprehensive guide to the vocabulary of the German language is found within the Deutsches Wörterbuch. This dictionary was created by the Brothers Grimm and is composed of 16 parts which were issued between 1852 and 1860, in 1872, grammatical and orthographic rules first appeared in the Duden Handbook. In 1901, the 2nd Orthographical Conference ended with a standardization of the German language in its written form
13.
Paris
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Paris is the capital and most populous city of France. It has an area of 105 square kilometres and a population of 2,229,621 in 2013 within its administrative limits, the agglomeration has grown well beyond the citys administrative limits. By the 17th century, Paris was one of Europes major centres of finance, commerce, fashion, science, and the arts, and it retains that position still today. The aire urbaine de Paris, a measure of area, spans most of the Île-de-France region and has a population of 12,405,426. It is therefore the second largest metropolitan area in the European Union after London, the Metropole of Grand Paris was created in 2016, combining the commune and its nearest suburbs into a single area for economic and environmental co-operation. Grand Paris covers 814 square kilometres and has a population of 7 million persons, the Paris Region had a GDP of €624 billion in 2012, accounting for 30.0 percent of the GDP of France and ranking it as one of the wealthiest regions in Europe. The city is also a rail, highway, and air-transport hub served by two international airports, Paris-Charles de Gaulle and Paris-Orly. Opened in 1900, the subway system, the Paris Métro. It is the second busiest metro system in Europe after Moscow Metro, notably, Paris Gare du Nord is the busiest railway station in the world outside of Japan, with 262 millions passengers in 2015. In 2015, Paris received 22.2 million visitors, making it one of the top tourist destinations. The association football club Paris Saint-Germain and the rugby union club Stade Français are based in Paris, the 80, 000-seat Stade de France, built for the 1998 FIFA World Cup, is located just north of Paris in the neighbouring commune of Saint-Denis. Paris hosts the annual French Open Grand Slam tennis tournament on the red clay of Roland Garros, Paris hosted the 1900 and 1924 Summer Olympics and is bidding to host the 2024 Summer Olympics. The name Paris is derived from its inhabitants, the Celtic Parisii tribe. Thus, though written the same, the name is not related to the Paris of Greek mythology. In the 1860s, the boulevards and streets of Paris were illuminated by 56,000 gas lamps, since the late 19th century, Paris has also been known as Panam in French slang. Inhabitants are known in English as Parisians and in French as Parisiens and they are also pejoratively called Parigots. The Parisii, a sub-tribe of the Celtic Senones, inhabited the Paris area from around the middle of the 3rd century BC. One of the areas major north-south trade routes crossed the Seine on the île de la Cité, this place of land and water trade routes gradually became a town
14.
Time (magazine)
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Time is an American weekly news magazine published in New York City. It was founded in 1923 and for decades was dominated by Henry Luce, a European edition is published in London and also covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong, the South Pacific edition, which covers Australia, New Zealand and the Pacific Islands, is based in Sydney, Australia. In December 2008, Time discontinued publishing a Canadian advertiser edition, Time has the worlds largest circulation for a weekly news magazine, and has a readership of 26 million,20 million of which are based in the United States. As of 2012, it had a circulation of 3.3 million making it the eleventh most circulated magazine in the United States reception room circuit, as of 2015, its circulation was 3,036,602. Richard Stengel was the editor from May 2006 to October 2013. Nancy Gibbs has been the editor since October 2013. Time magazine was created in 1923 by Briton Hadden and Henry Luce, the two had previously worked together as chairman and managing editor respectively of the Yale Daily News. They first called the proposed magazine Facts and they wanted to emphasize brevity, so that a busy man could read it in an hour. They changed the name to Time and used the slogan Take Time–Its Brief and it set out to tell the news through people, and for many decades the magazines cover depicted a single person. More recently, Time has incorporated People of the Year issues which grew in popularity over the years, notable mentions of them were Barack Obama, Steve Jobs, Matej Turk, etc. The first issue of Time was published on March 3,1923, featuring Joseph G. Cannon, the retired Speaker of the House of Representatives, on its cover, a facsimile reprint of Issue No. 1, including all of the articles and advertisements contained in the original, was included with copies of the February 28,1938 issue as a commemoration of the magazines 15th anniversary. The cover price was 15¢ On Haddens death in 1929, Luce became the dominant man at Time, the Intimate History of a Publishing Enterprise 1923–1941. In 1929, Roy Larsen was also named a Time Inc. director, J. P. Morgan retained a certain control through two directorates and a share of stocks, both over Time and Fortune. Other shareholders were Brown Brothers W. A. Harriman & Co. the Intimate History of a Changing Enterprise 1957–1983. According to the September 10,1979 issue of The New York Times, after Time magazine began publishing its weekly issues in March 1923, Roy Larsen was able to increase its circulation by utilizing U. S. radio and movie theaters around the world. It often promoted both Time magazine and U. S. political and corporate interests, Larsen next arranged for a 30-minute radio program, The March of Time, to be broadcast over CBS, beginning on March 6,1931
15.
Vladimir Nabokov bibliography
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This is a list of works by writer Vladimir Nabokov. The Original of Laura Vozvrashchenie Chorba, Fifteen short stories and twenty-four poems, in Russian, by V. Sirin. Thirteen short stories, in Russian, by V. Sirin, the New Yorker, July 31,1948 The Word. The New Yorker, December 6,2005 Natasha, the New Yorker, June 9 &16,2008 The Man Stopped. Twelve poems by Nabokov and eight by Andrei Balashov, in Russian, thirty-six poems in Russian, by V. Sirin. One hundred and twenty-eight poems in Russian, by Vl, Fifteen short stories and twenty-four poems, in Russian, by V. Sirin. Stikhotvoreniia 1929–1951 Fifteen poems in Russian, the contents were later incorporated within Poems and Problems. The contents were incorporated within Selected Poems. Two hundred and twenty-two poems in Russian, Selected Poems Nikolka Persik Translation of Romain Rollands novel Colas Breugnon. Alices Adventures in Wonderland Three Russian Poets, Selections from Pushkin, Lermontov, expanded British edition, Pushkin, Lermontov, Tyutchev, Poems A Hero of Our Time, by Mikhail Lermontov. The Song of Igors Campaign, An Epic of the Twelfth Century Eugene Onegin, verses and Versions, includes materials previously published in Three Russian Poets and Pushkin, Lermontov, Tyutchev as well as unpublished materials. Nikolai Gogol Notes on Prosody Lectures on Literature Lectures on Ulysses, Lectures on Russian Literature Lectures on Don Quixote Curtain-Raiser. Conclusive Evidence, A Memoir - first version of Nabokovs autobiography, drugie Berega - revised version of the autobiography Speak, Memory, An Autobiography Revisited - final revised and extended edition of Conclusive Evidence. It includes information on his work as a lepidopterist, Three long-forgotten short texts that had recently been rediscovered. Selected Letters Dear Bunny, Dear Volodya, The Nabokov–Wilson Letters, a revised and augmented edition of The Nabokov–Wilson Letters. Nabokovs letters to Véra Slonim, beginning in 1921 and extending through their marriage, Nabokovs Butterflies, collected works on butterflies
16.
Mary (Nabokov novel)
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Mary, is the debut novel by Vladimir Nabokov, first published under pen name V. Sirin in 1926 by the Russian language publisher Slovo. Mary is the story of Lev Glebovich Ganin, a Russian émigré, enthralled by his vision of Mary and unable to let Alfyorov have her, Ganin contrives schemes in order to reunite with Mary, who he believes still loves him. Eventually, Ganin claims that he will leave Berlin the night before Mary is to arrive, Ganin steadily plies Alfyorov with alcohol, heavily intoxicating him. Just before Alfyorov falls into his drunken sleep, he asks Ganin to set his alarm clock for half past seven, the infatuated Ganin instead sets the clock for eleven and plans to meet Mary at the train station himself. However, as Ganin arrives at the station, he realizes that the world of memories in which Ganin had dwelt became what it was in reality the distant past. Other than that image no Mary existed, nor could exist, instead of meeting Mary, Ganin decides to board a train to France and move on. Amidst the central plot is a secondary, minor plot of an old Russian poet, Anton Sergeyevich Podtyagin, Podtyagin desires to eventually leave Berlin and arrive in Paris, but fails to do so on several occasions due to a series of unfortunate events. Lev Glebovich Ganin – The protagonist of the novel, a young displaced Russian writer in Berlin who is unable to forget Mary, aleksey Ivanovich Alfyorov – The husband of Mary and the neighbour of Ganin. Lydia Nikolaevna Dorn – The landlady of Ganin, Lyudmila – Ganins girlfriend in the opening chapters of the novel. Klara – A young German girl living in the building as Ganin. Anton Sergeyevich Podtyagin – An old Russian poet who desires to leave Berlin for Paris, Mary Alfyorov – The eponymous character and Ganins first love. Mary never appears in the present of the novel, but only in Ganins memories, Mary was first written and published in the mid-1920s during Nabokovs stay in Berlin. Nabokovs first novel contains, as many of his works do, Nabokovs time with Lyussya is recorded in the final chapter of his autobiography, Speak, Memory where she is given the pseudonym Tamara. Nabokov confirms this connection himself in the foreword to the English edition, like Ganin, Nabokov was separated from Tamara by the Russian Revolution and forced into Berlin as an émigré. The novel was initially well-received in the 1920s for its inventive structure, among contemporary critics however, it is generally viewed as an early, relatively juvenile work of Nabokov, written at a time before he came into his own as an author. Nabokov himself seemed to share the opinion, at least on a technical level. Furthermore, Nabokovs decision to translate and publish Mary in English last out of all his Russian novels perhaps is an indication of his opinion on its quality. Yet the author seemed to also have a side for his first novel
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King, Queen, Knave
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King, Queen, Knave is a novel written by Vladimir Nabokov, while living in Berlin and sojourning at resorts in the Baltic in 1928. It was published as Король, дама, валет in Russian in October of that year, Franz, a young man from a small town, is sent away from home to work in the Berlin department store of his well-to-do uncle, Dreyer. On the train ride to Berlin Franz is seated in the compartment with Dreyer and Dreyers wife, Martha. Franz is immediately enchanted by Marthas beauty, and, shortly after Franz begins work at the store, as the novel continues Marthas distaste for her husband grows more pronounced, and with it her adoration for Franz. Franz, meanwhile, begins to lose any will of his own, Dreyer, meanwhile, continues to lavish blind adulation on his wife, and is only hurt, not suspicious, when she returns his love with resentment. As her relationship with Franz deepens, Martha begins to hatch schemes for Dreyers demise, Franz himself has begun to lose interest in Martha, but he goes along with her plotting. As part of Marthas plans, the three together at the Seaview Hotel at Gravitz, a resort on the Baltic Sea. She plans to take Dreyer, who cannot swim, out in a boat so he can be drowned. On the boat, however, the plot is suspended by Martha when she learns from Dreyer that he is about to close a very profitable business deal, Martha then gets pneumonia from the rain and the cold on the boat. To Dreyers great sorrow she passes away, he never learns about the betrayal, Franz, relieved by her death, is heard laughing in a frenzy of young mirth. The Inventor promised to make three dummies, however, at the performance for Ritter, only the elderly gentleman with Dreyers jacket. The woman dummy crashed in a final clatter, one of Nabokovs favorite subjects, the doppelgänger theme, is enacted through the creation of the automannequins. Additionally, the actual automaton Franz represents a critique by Nabokov of the Weimar German psyche—ripe for destructive organization. The picture of Franz is that of a lower-class German who is manipulated, surrenders his moral judgment. In the books last scenes, Nabokov describes Franz as having reached a stage at which human speech, when Nabokov wrote the story, Nazism was then in its nascent stages, and Franz appears as a Nazi in the making. Franz is faced in the train to Berlin by a man with a grotesque facial disfiguration, later Franz sees them again and feels they are talking about him and know everything about his predicament. Dreyer reads a list of people in their hotel, the strange name Blavdak Vinomori strikes him, presumably this is the name of the male of this couple, it is an anagram of Vladimir Nabokov. The name Mr. Vivian Badlook also appears in the text, a skier and teacher of English
18.
The Defense
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The Defense is the third novel written by Vladimir Nabokov during his emigration to Berlin, published in 1930. More than three decades later the novel was translated into English by Michael Scammell in collaboration with Nabokov, in the foreword to the English edition Nabokov states that he wrote The Defense in 1929 while he vacationed in Le Boulou and then finished it in Berlin. He links the events in the chapters to moves as encountered in chess problems. The plot concerns the character, Aleksandr Ivanovich Luzhin. As a boy, he is considered unattractive, withdrawn, one day, when a guest comes to his fathers party, he is asked whether he knows how to play chess. This encounter serves as his motivation to pick up chess and he skips school and visits his aunts house to learn the basics. He quickly becomes a player, enrolling in local competitions. His talent is prodigious and he attains the level of a Grandmaster in less than ten years, for many years, he remains one of the top chess players in the world, but fails to become a world champion. During one of the tournaments, at a resort, he meets a girl, never named in the novel. They become romantically involved, and Luzhin eventually proposes to her, things turn for the worse when he is pitted against Turati, a grandmaster from Italy, in a competition to determine who would face the current world champion. Before and during the game, Luzhin has a breakdown, which climaxes when his carefully planned defense against Turati fails in the first moves. When the game is suspended Luzhin wanders into the city in a state of detachment from reality. He is returned home and brought to a rest home, where he eventually recovers and his doctor convinces Luzhins fiancée that chess was the reason for his downfall, and all reminders of chess are removed from his environment. Slowly however, chess begins to find its way back into his thoughts, Luzhin begins to see his life as a chess game, seeing repetitions of moves that return his obsession with the game. He desperately tries to find the move that will defend him from losing his chess life-game, eventually, after an encounter with his old chess mentor, Valentinov, Luzhin realizes that he must abandon the game, as he puts it to his wife. He locks himself in the bathroom and he climbs out of a window, and it is implied he falls to his death, but the ending is deliberately vague. The last line of the reads, The door was burst in. Aleksandr Ivanovich, Aleksandr Ivanovich, roared several voices, but there was no Aleksandr Ivanovich
19.
The Eye (novel)
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The Eye, written in 1930, is Vladimir Nabokovs fourth novel. It was translated into English by the authors son Dmitri Nabokov in 1965, at just over 100 pages, The Eye is Nabokovs shortest novel. Nabokov himself referred to it as a novel and it is a work that sits somewhere around the boundary between extended short story and novella. It was produced during a hiatus in Nabokovs creation of stories between 1927 and 1930 as a result of his growing success as a novelist. As in many of Nabokovs early works, the characters are largely Russian émigrés relocated to Europe, in this case, the novel is set in two houses where a young Russian tutor, Smurov, is renting room and board. The action of the novel begins after the attempted suicide of the protagonist. This occurs after he suffers a beating at the hands of a cuckolded husband, the novel deals largely with indeterminate locus of identity and the social construction of identity in the reactions and opinions of others. Smurov exists as a fraud, nobleman, scoundrel, sexual adventurer, thief, in some senses, Smurov is akin to the narrator of Dostoevskys Notes from Underground. As the protagonist carefully collects these observations, he attempts to build a stable perspective on Smurov — whom we only belatedly discover is the narrator himself, the result is a meditation on the relationship between subjectivity and objectivity. The work is the first one in Nabokovs oeuvre involving a first-person narrator and, specifically and this was to be a structure that was developed further in later works such as Despair, Pale Fire and his final novel, Look at the Harlequins. In a 1967 interview with Alfred Appel Jr, Nabokov retrospectively suggested that the work might have represented a turning-point in his career in this respect, a brief bibliography and summary of The Eye at Zembla
20.
Glory (novel)
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Glory is a Russian novel written by Vladimir Nabokov between 1930 and 1932 and first published in Paris. The novel has seen by some critics as a kind of fictional dress-run-through of the authors famous memoir Speak. It is, however, the story of a familys escape from Russia, a young mans education in England. The text was translated by the son, Dmitri Nabokov, with revisions by the author. The Russian title, Podvig, also translates as feat or exploit and its working title was Romanticheskiy vek, as Nabokov indicates in his foreword. He goes on to characterize Martin as the kindest, uprightest, Nabokov remarks that he has given Martin neither talent nor artistic creativity. Martin Edelweiss grows up in pre-Revolutionary St. Petersburg and his grandfather Edelweiss had come to Russia from Switzerland, and was employed as a tutor, eventually marrying his youngest pupil. The watercolor image of a dense forest with a winding path hangs over Martins crib, during Martins upbringing, his parents get divorced. His father, whom he did not love very much, soon dies, with the revolution, his mother, Sofia, takes Martin first to the Crimea, then out of Russia. On the ship to Athens, Martin is enchanted by and has his first romance with the beautiful, older poet Alla, after Athens, Martin and his mother find refuge in Switzerland with his uncle Henry Edelweiss, who will eventually become Martins stepfather. Martin goes to study at Cambridge and, on the way, stays with the Zilanov family in London, he is attracted to their 16-year-old daughter, at Cambridge, he enjoys the wide academic offerings of the university and takes some time to choose a field. He is fascinated by Archibald Moon, who teaches Russian literature and he meets Darwin, a fellow student from England, who has a literary talent and history as a war hero. Darwin also becomes interested in Sonia, but she rejects his marriage proposal, Martin has a very brief affair with a waitress named Rose, who blackmails Martin by faking a pregnancy, until Darwin unveils her ruse and pays her off. Just before the end of their Cambridge days, Darwin and Martin engage in a boxing match, Martin does not settle down after Cambridge, to the dismay of his uncle and step-father, Henry. He follows the Zilanovs to Berlin and meets the writer Bubnov, during this period, Martin and Sonia imagine Zoorland, a northern country championing absolute equality. Sonia pushes Martin away, making him feel alienated among the group of friends he had in Berlin and he takes a train trip to the South of France. At some distance he sees some lights in the distance at night, Martin gets off the train and finds the village of Molignac. He stays there and works a while, identifying himself alternately as Swiss, German, and English, getting another negative letter from Sonia, he returns to Switzerland
21.
Laughter in the Dark (novel)
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Laughter in the Dark is a novel written by Vladimir Nabokov and serialised in Sovremennye Zapiski in 1932. Nabokov was so displeased by the quality that he undertook his own. It is sometimes assumed that he was not fond of the book. The book deals with the affection of a man for a very young woman. In 1955, Nabokov used this again with Lolita to a much differently developed effect. The characters were different names in the English translation. In the following list the names of the characters of the English translation are given first with the original names in parentheses. He lusts after the 17-year-old Margot whom he meets at a cinema, where she works and this results in the dissolution of the Albinuses marriage. Rather than disown the young troublemaker, he is more attracted to her. Margot uses him to become a star, fulfilling her ambition in life. Albinus introduces Margot to Axel Rex, but he not know that the two have previously been lovers. Margot and Rex resume their relationship, and start plotting to get Albinus out of the way and rob him of his money. Rex sees the opportunities that Albinuss infatuation with Margot produces, and understands that even a great risk means little to the blind and helpless, in love, in loss, Albinus gets Margot her first role as an actress, but she does not appear to be very talented. In fact, what she possesses in beauty is best captured by the rather than even a still camera. Only Albinuss wealth ensures that she gets to play her role, Margot realizes that she has played the role poorly and Albinus worries about her reaction. Rex, however, adores seeing the girl from the streets suffer, after Margot becomes upset when viewing the film, Albinus coaxes her into taking a holiday to the south. They rent a room and, after a chance encounter with an old friend, Albinus happens to surmise that Margot. He has always been envious of Rex in the belief that he is the truest of artists and he has stolen beautiful young things from Albinus his whole life, and this is no different
22.
Despair (novel)
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Despair is the seventh novel by Vladimir Nabokov, originally published in Russian, serially in the politicized literary journal Sovremennye zapiski during 1934. It was then published as a book in 1936, and translated to English by the author in 1937, most copies of the 1937 English edition were destroyed by German bombs during World War II, only a few copies remain. Nabokov published a second English translation in 1965, this is now the only English translation in print, even though Felix, the supposed doppelgänger, is seemingly unaware of their resemblance, Hermann insists that their likeness is most striking. Hermann is married to Lydia, a silly and forgetful wife who has a cousin named Ardalion. It is heavily hinted that Lydia and Ardalion are, in fact, lovers, on one occasion Hermann actually walks in on the pair, naked, but Hermann appears to be completely oblivious of the situation, perhaps deliberately so. After some time, Hermann shares with Felix a plan for both of them to profit off their shared likeness by having Felix briefly pretend to be Hermann. But after Felix is disguised as Hermann, Hermann kills Felix in order to collect the money on Hermann on March 9. Hermann considers the perfect murder plot to be a work of art rather than a scheme to gain money. Hermann who is writing the narrative switches to a mode at the very end just before his captivity. Nabokov began to compose Despair while he was living in Berlin beginning in July 1932, the year in which Nabokov was writing Despair was a turbulent one for Germany. In June 1932, the Reichstag had collapsed and Incumbent President President Paul von Hindenburg called for elections and it would not be long before the Nazi party would come into prominence and Hitler appointed as chancellor. In 1935, Nabokov began to become increasingly intrigued with the English language, Nabokov remarked that translating Despair was his first serious attempt. To use English for what may loosely termed an artistic purpose, Nabokov sent the manuscript to Hutchinson & Co. The book was a flop commercially and Nabokov only earned €40. The issue was that Hutchinsons only published cheap, popular novels, Nabokov would later lament that Despair was a rhinoceros in a world of hummingbirds. At one particular, Hermann even contemplates titling his narrative The Double, before he realizes it has been used, additionally, the book is rich in intertextual connections to other authors such as Pushkin, Gogol, Turgenev, Oscar Wilde, and Conan Doyle. Despair is generally acclaimed as one of Nabokovs better Russian novels, along with Invitation to a Beheading and The Gift, british author Martin Amis ranked it second on his list of best Nabokov novels, with it trailing only Lolita. However, Nabokovs biographer Brian Boyd seemed to have ambivalent feelings toward Despair, seems sadly lacking in its structure
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Invitation to a Beheading
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Invitation to a Beheading is a novel by Russian American author Vladimir Nabokov. It was originally published in Russian from 1935 to 1936 as a serial in Contemporary Notes, in 1938, the work was published in Paris, with an English translation following in 1959. The novel was translated into English by Nabokovs son, Dmitri Nabokov, the novel is often described as Kafkaesque, but Nabokov claimed that at the time he wrote the book, he was unfamiliar with German and completely ignorant of Franz Kafkas work. Nabokov interrupted his work on The Gift in order to write Invitation to a Beheading, describing the creation of the first draft as one fortnight of wonderful excitement and sustained inspiration. Some scholars have argued that the plot of Invitation to a Beheading has its roots in Chernyshevski. Another view is that the functions as a roman à clef with the Platonic Socrates as its target. While Nabokov stated in an interview that of all his novels he held the greatest affection for Lolita, it was Invitation to a Beheading that he held in the greatest esteem. The novel takes place in a prison and relates the final twenty days of Cincinnatus C. a citizen of a fictitious country, although he tries to hide his condition and feign translucence, people are uncomfortable with his existence, and feel there is something wrong with him. In this way, Cincinnatus fails to become part of his society, while confined, Cincinnatus is not told when his execution will occur. This troubles him, as he wants to express himself through writing in defiance of all the worlds muteness, indifferent to the absurdity and vulgarity around him, Cincinnatus strives to find his true self in his writing, where he creates an ideal world. Other characters include Rodion the jailer, the director of the jail Rodrig, some suggest that these names are meant to mimic that of the protagonist of Fyodor Dostoyevskys Crime and Punishment, Rodion Romanovich Raskolnikov. Cincinnatus wife Marthe, a child named Emmie, and fellow prisoner Msieur Pierre are also secondary characters, Vladimir Nabokovs Invitation to a Beheading and the Russian Radical Tradition. Ein Theodizee-Argument des Welschen Gastes im Horizont europäischer Gefängnis-Literatur von Boethius bis Vladimir Nabokov, text und Imagination in den illustrierten Handschriften des Welschen Gastes von Thomasin von Zerclaere
24.
The Gift (Nabokov novel)
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The Gift is Vladimir Nabokovs final Russian novel, and is considered to be his farewell to the world he was leaving behind. Nabokov wrote it between 1935 and 1937 while living in Berlin, and it was published in form under his nom de plume. The Gifts fourth chapter, a pseudo-biography of the Russian writer Nikolay Chernyshevsky, was censored from publication in the Russian émigré journal that published the four other chapters. The storys apparent protagonist is Fyodor Godunov-Cherdyntsev, a Russian writer living in Berlin after his family fled the Bolshevik Revolution, Fyodors literary ambitions and his development as a writer shape the book. In the fifth and final chapter, Fyodor states his ambition to write a book that in description is similar to The Gift. It is possible to interpret the book as metafiction, and imagine that the book was written by Fyodor later in his life. Nabokovs son, Dmitri, translated the books first chapter into English, Nabokov then revised the translations of all five chapters in 1961. Fyodor Konstantinovitch Cherdyntsev is a Russian émigré living in Berlin in the 1920s, the poems reach back to Fyodor’s childhood, which he spent with his sister Tanya in pre-revolutionary St. Petersburg and the Leshino manor, the country estate of the Godunov-Cherdyntsevs. Fyodor arrives at the party only to learn that he has fallen victim to a crude April fool’s joke, the Chernyshevskis had a son, Yasha, who looked like Fyodor and loved poetry. Yasha took his own life when he was caught in a love triangle. Yashas mother wants Fyodor to use Yashas tragic end in his writings, as a result of Yasha’s death, his father suffers episodes of insanity. When Fyodor returns to his “new hole” he realises he has brought the wrong keys with him, in the fall he attends a literary meeting of Russian émigrés and there he meets Koncheyev, whom he considers a rival. A reading of a new play bores the audience, when Fyodor is about to leave he and Koncheyev discuss Russian literature at length and with great animation, but their discussion turns out to have been largely fictitious. Fyodor is dreaming about his native Russia as he rides in a tramcar to visit his language student, but he can no longer stand it and he returns to his lodgings. When his mother, Elizaveta Pavlovna, comes from Paris to visit him, before her departure they attend a local Russian literary event, and Fyodor is the last poet there to recite one of his poems. Although almost unnoticed he is inspired by his mothers visit and by his study of Pushkin, and he seeks her support for his new project, a book about his father, Konstantin Kirillovich. Fyodor had only come along with his father on local trips, in 1916 his father departed for his last journey and remains missing. Fyodor’s difficulty with his project is complicated by his need to find a new lodging, with the help of Mrs. Chernyshevski he finds a place with the Shchyogolevs
25.
The Enchanter
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The Enchanter is a novella written by Vladimir Nabokov in Paris in 1939. As Волшебник it was his last work of written in Russian. Nabokov never published it during his lifetime, after his death, his son Dmitri translated the novella into English in 1986 and it was published the following year. Its original Russian version became available in 1991, the story deals with the hebephilia of the protagonist and thus is linked to and presages the Lolita theme. Nabokov showed it to just a few people, and then lost the manuscript in the process of coming to America, however, he recovered it later in Ithaca in 1959, at a time he had already published Lolita. He reread The Enchanter, and termed it “precise and lucid”, Dmitri Nabokov judged it to be an important and mature work of his father and translated and published it posthumously. The published work also contains two notes, and a postscript essay by Dmitri titled On a Book Entitled the Enchanter. The story is essentially timeless and placeless, the protagonist is a middle-aged Arthur who lusts after a certain type of adolescent girls. Infatuated with a girl, Maria. He marries her mother to access to her. The mother, already sick, soon passes away, and Maria now is in his care, on their first night, Arthur exposes himself to her and she terrifiedly rejects him. Shocked at his own monstrosity, he runs out on the street and is killed by a car, only the viewpoint of Arthur presented, - we learn close to nothing about the views of his victims. He is conflicted and tries to rationalize his behavior, but is disgusted by it. “How can I come to terms with myself. ”He makes his moves like a chess player, but once he seems to have reached his goal, he is startled by her reaction. The conflict is not resolved but by his destruction, Nabokov himself called The Enchanter his pre-Lolita. However, one has to be careful in linking the two works, in common is the theme of hebephilia and the basic strategy - to gain access to the girl, the male marries the mother. However, Lolita diverges significantly from its predecessor, charlotte and Dolores have distinct character developments and views, rather than serving as passive pawns in the hebephile’s strategy. Dolores is a person in her own right and even acts seductively, Humbert Humbert is upstaged by a rival and murders him, whereas the protagonist of The Enchanter commits suicide
26.
The Real Life of Sebastian Knight
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The Real Life of Sebastian Knight is the first English language novel by Vladimir Nabokov, written from late 1938 to early 1939, and published in 1941 by New Directions Publishers. Nabokovs first major work in English was composed in Paris while the author sat in the bathroom, the narrator, V. is absorbed in the composition of his first literary work, a biography of his half-brother the famous Russian-born English novelist, Sebastian Knight. In the course of his quest he tracks down Sebastians acquaintances from Cambridge, sheldon, and the painter Roy Carswell. In the course of his biography V. also reviews Sebastians books and attempts to refute the views of the biography by Knights former secretary Mr. Goodman. Goodman maintains that Knight was too aloof and cut off from real life, V. V. V. is intent on tracking down each of the women to interview them. After dismissing the possibility of Helene Grinstein, his search leads him to Paris, V. first suspects Mme de Rechnoy of being the mystery woman based on a compelling description from her ex-husband, Pahl Palich Rechnoy. Mme de Rechnoy has left her husband and cannot be located, Nina invites V. to visit her in the country, where Helene will be staying with the her. V. accepts, and, worried that he miss his prey. At the country house V. finds that Helene von Graun has not yet arrived and he mentions his letter to Nina, which angers her. By a ruse, V. learns that it is Nina Lecerf herself, and not Helene von Graun, Nina was, in fact, the Mme de Rechnoy who V. had originally suspected, but never met. The final chapters of the deal with The Doubtful Asphodel, Sebastians final novel. V. s description of then novel reveals similarities and coincidence not only with Sebastians life, V. tries to account for Sebastians final years, including a last, cryptic letter from Sebastian asking V. to visit him at a hospital outside Paris. As V. V. finally arrives at the hospital and listens to his sleeping brothers breathing from a room, only to discover that the sleeping man is not his brother. Sebastian Knight had died the night before, the novel concludes with a philosophical reconciliation of Sebastians life, and a final implication that V. himself is Sebastian Knight, or at least an incarnation of his soul. The man is the book, the book itself is heaving and dying, the only real number is one, the rest are mere repetition. Nabokovs friend, correspondent, and sometime antagonist Edmund Wilson called Sebastian Knight his favorite among the authors works, an archive devoted to Nabokovs works Rimmon, Shlomith, Problems of Voice in Nabokov’s The Real Life of Sebastian Knight. – In, Phyllis A. Roth, Critical Essays on Vladimir Nabokov, 109–129, G. K
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Bend Sinister (novel)
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Bend Sinister is a dystopian novel written by Vladimir Nabokov during the years 1945 and 1946, and published by Henry Holt and Company in 1947. It was Nabokovs second English-language novel and eleventh overall, a bend sinister is an heraldic charge, a bar drawn from the upper left to the lower right on a coat of arms. A bend, the stripe on a coat of arms, is the reverse. A standard bend is called a bend dexter to distinguish it from the bend sinister. In a 1963 edition of the book, Nabokov explains that this choice of a title was an attempt to suggest an outline broken by refraction, a distortion in the mirror of being, in the novel, Nabokov often uses wordplay concerning leftward movements. The story begins with the protagonist, Adam Krug, who had just lost his wife to an unsuccessful surgery and he is quickly asked to sign and deliver a speech to the leader of the new government by the head of the university and his colleagues, but he refuses. This government is led by a man named Paduk and his Party of the Average Man. As it happens, the world-renowned philosopher Adam Krug was, in his youth, Paduk tries to entice Krug with various offers, but Krug always refuses, even after his friends and acquaintances, like Ember, are incarcerated. Finally, Paduk orders the kidnapping of Krugs young son, David, after Krug capitulates and is prepared to promote the Ekwilist philosophy, Paduk promises Davids safe return. However, when David is to be returned to him, Krug is horrified to find that the child he is presented is not his son. There has been a mix-up, and David has been sent to an orphanage that doubles as a violent prisoner rehabilitation clinic where he was killed when offered as a release to the prisoners. Paduk makes an offer to allow Krug to personally kill those responsible, another offer is made to Krug to free 24 opponents of Ekwilism, including many of his friends, in exchange for doing so. Krug refuses and begins to charge at Paduk and is killed by a pair of bullets from the dictators henchmen. At this point, Nabokov feels such pity for Krug that he actually intervenes and emphasizes that Bend Sinister was, thankfully, a fictional story, Adam Krug – University philosopher and protagonist. Krug is the foremost writer and thinker of Padukgrad and his cooperation with and endorsement of the Party of the Average Man is crucial to the regimes international relations. Olga Krug – Adams late wife, who dies right before the novel begins, David Krug – Adams son, who is killed by Padukgrad criminals in a mix-up. Paduk – Nicknamed The Toad, he is the dictator of Padukgrad, former schoolmate of Krug, Ember – A Padukgrad intellectual who studies Shakespeare and is Adams best friend. Mariette – The Krugs housemaid, sent by Paduk to spy on Adam and she flirts with the elder Krug often and manages to seduce him
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Lolita
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Lolita is a 1955 novel written by Russian American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. Lolita is his nickname for Dolores. The novel was written in English and first published in Paris in 1955 by Olympia Press. Later it was translated into Russian by Nabokov himself and published in New York in 1967 by Phaedra Publishers, Lolita quickly attained a classic status. Today it is regarded as one of the achievements in 20th century literature. The novel was adapted into a film by Stanley Kubrick in 1962 and it has also been adapted several times for the stage and has been the subject of two operas, two ballets, and an acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful Broadway musical. Its assimilation into popular culture is such that the name Lolita has been used to imply that a girl is sexually precocious. Lolita is included on TIME magazines list of the 100 best English-language novels published from 1923 to 2005, a European literary scholar writing his memoir under the name Humbert Humbert narrates his life from his Paris childhood to his present incarceration. Growing up in a family, Humbert meets his childhood sweetheart. Annabels family moves away, and she dies shortly after from typhus, as an adult, Humbert develops a hebephilic fixation with girls aged 9–14, whom he refers to as nymphets. After a misadventure when he requests an underage girl from a pimp, Humbert marries a woman, Valeria. His marriage with Valeria dissolves after she admits to having an affair, after another visit to a psychiatric ward after a mental breakdown, he moves to America to write. Upon his arrival in Ramsdale, however, he discovers that their house has burned down, a landlady named Charlotte Haze offers to accommodate him instead, and Humbert visits her residence out of politeness. Initially planning to decline the widowed Charlottes offer, Humbert agrees to rent when he sees her 12-year-old daughter and he quickly becomes infatuated with Dolores, in part because of her resemblance to Annabel, and privately nicknames her Lolita. Humbert starts a diary in which he records his obsessive and sexual thoughts about Dolores, and also hateful comments towards Charlotte, Charlotte and Dolores argue intensely and often, and Humbert finds himself growing closer to Dolores. One day, when alone with her, Humbert has her sit on his lap. To continue living near Dolores, Humbert returns Charlottes adorations and the two are soon married, after Charlotte voices her plan to send Dolores to a boarding school when she returns from camp, Humbert contemplates murdering her to remain close to Dolores, but stops before carrying it out. A few days later, Charlotte finds and reads his diary and furiously confronts him, Charlotte runs out of the house with the letters that she had just written, but is killed by a passing car before she can mail them
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Pnin
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Pnin is Vladimir Nabokovs 13th novel and his fourth written in English, it was published in 1957. The success of Pnin in the United States would launch Nabokovs career into literary prominence, the books eponymous protagonist, Timofey Pavlovich Pnin, is a Russian-born assistant professor in his 50s living in the United States. The novel begins with the introduction of Timofey Pavlovich Pnin, a professor of Russian at Waindell College, who is bald with a strong man torso, short spindly legs. Pnin is on a train en route from Waindell to Cremona, Pnin is persistently bothered by the fear that he may lose his lecture papers, or muddle them with the student essay he is correcting. He discovers he has boarded the train and gets off. When he tries to board a bus to Cremona, he realizes he has lost his luggage and has a fit of dizziness. The chapter ends without revealing whether Pnin has the correct papers, laurence Clements, a fellow Waindell faculty member, and his wife Joan, are looking for a new lodger after their daughter Isabel has married and moved out. Their new tenant happens to be Pnin himself, who has been informed of the vacancy by Waindells librarian, although at first skeptical of lodging a man with such an unfavorable reputation, the Clementses grow to enjoy Pnins eccentricities and his idiosyncratic phrasings. There follows the history of Pnins relationship with his ex-wife Dr. Liza Wind, Liza visits Pnin, but only wants to extract money from him for her son, Victor. Although Pnin is aware of her schemes, he out of his still-present love for his ex-wife. After Liza leaves, Pnin weeps at her cruelty, shouting I haf nofing left, Pnin is alone at the Clementses as they have gone west to visit Isabel. Descriptions are then given of Pnins competency in Russian, and this is contrasted with his bumbling English. He arrives at Waindell library, where he ignores Mrs. Thayers attempts at small talk as he tries to return a book requested by another patron. When the record shows the requester to be Pnin himself, he leaves to do research for his book, the chapter ends with the return of Isabel, newly divorced, and Pnin is forced to find new a new home. The fourth chapter opens with the dream of fourteen-year-old Victor Wind, Victor considers this King to be his real father, rather than his biological father Eric Wind, whom he has not seen for two years. Victor is depicted as an ingelligent, nonconformist boy with a talent for drawing. His parents, incapable of understanding him, have him psychoanalyzed, as if Victors artistic ability were detrimental, Victor has little respect for his teachers at St. Barts except for Lake the art teacher, a tremendously obese man with shaggy eyebrows and hairy hands. Victor is to meet with Pnin at Waindell bus station, and Pnin hurriedly buys him a soccer ball, Pnin meets Victor and is immediately surprised by the boys physical and mental maturity
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Pale Fire
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Pale Fire is a 1962 novel by Vladimir Nabokov. Together these elements form a narrative in both fictional authors are central characters. Pale Fire has spawned a variety of interpretations and a large body of written criticism. The Nabokov authority Brian Boyd has called it Nabokovs most perfect novel, and it was ranked 53rd on the list of the Modern Library 100 Best Novels and 1st on the American literary critic Larry McCafferys 20th Century’s Greatest Hits,100 English-Language Books of Fiction. Kinbotes Commentary takes the form of notes to various numbered lines of the poem, here and in the rest of his critical apparatus, Kinbote explicates the poem surprisingly little. Focusing instead on his own concerns, he divulges what proves to be the piece by piece. Espen Aarseth noted that Pale Fire can be read either unicursally, straight through, or multicursally, thus although the narration is non-linear and multidimensional, the reader can still choose to read the novel in a linear manner without risking misinterpretation. The novels unusual structure has attracted attention, and it is often cited as an important example of metafiction. A2009 paper also compares Pale Fire to hypertext, the interaction between Kinbote and Shade takes place in the fictitious small college town of New Wye, Appalachia, where they live across a lane from each other, from February to July 1959. Kinbote writes his commentary from then to October 1959 in a tourist cabin in the equally fictitious western town of Cedarn, both authors recount many earlier events, Shade mostly in New Wye and Kinbote in New Wye and in Europe, especially the distant northern land of Zembla. Shades poem digressively describes many aspects of his life, canto 1 includes his early encounters with death and glimpses of what he takes to be the supernatural. Canto 2 is about his family and the apparent suicide of his daughter, canto 3 focuses on Shades search for knowledge about an afterlife, culminating in a faint hope in higher powers playing a game of worlds as indicated by apparent coincidences. Canto 4 offers details on Shades daily life and creative process, as well as thoughts on his poetry, in Kinbotes editorial contributions he tells three stories intermixed with each other. One is his own story, notably including what he thinks of as his friendship with Shade. After Shade was murdered, Kinbote acquired the manuscript, including some variants, Kinbotes second story deals with King Charles II, The Beloved, the deposed king of Zembla. King Charles escaped imprisonment by Soviet-backed revolutionaries, making use of a secret passage, however, no explicit reference to King Charles is to be found in the poem. Kinbotes third story is that of Gradus, an assassin dispatched by the new rulers of Zembla to kill the exiled King Charles, Gradus makes his way from Zembla through Europe and America to New Wye, suffering comic mishaps. In the last note, to the missing line 1000, Kinbote narrates how Gradus killed Shade by mistake, Nabokov said in an interview that Kinbote committed suicide after finishing the book
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Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle
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Ada, or Ardor, A Family Chronicle is a novel by Vladimir Nabokov published in 1969. Ada began to materialize in 1959, when Nabokov was flirting with two projects, The Texture of Time and Letters from Terra, in 1965, he began to see a link between the two ideas, finally composing a unified novel from February 1966 to October 1968. The published cumulation would become his longest work, Ada was initially given a mixed reception. According to David Eagleman, Nabokov named the character in part after his favorite butterfly. An avid collector of butterflies, Nabokov was especially fond of one species with yellow wings, as a synesthete, he associated colors with each letter, A was connected to yellow, and D to black. Thus he saw a reflection of his favorite butterfly in the name Ada and this also makes sense because Ada wants to be a lepidopterist in the book. Ada is also a pun, a homophone, for Ardor, Marina, Adas mother, pronounces her name with long, deep Russian As, which is how a speaker of non-rhotic English would say the word Ardor. Her name is also a play on Ad, Russian for Hell, Ada tells the life story of a man named Van Veen, and his lifelong love affair with his sister Ada. They meet when she is eleven and he is fourteen, believing that they are cousins and they later discover that Vans father is also Adas and her mother is also his. The story follows the various interruptions and resumptions of their affair, both are wealthy, educated, and intelligent. The novel is divided into five parts, each shorter in length than the preceding one, as they progress chronologically, this structure evokes a sense of a person reflecting on his own memories, with an adolescence stretching out epically, and many later years simply flashing by. The story takes place in the nineteenth century on what appears to be an alternative history of Earth. Antiterra has the same geography and a similar history to that of Earth, however. For example, the United States includes all of the Americas, but it was also settled extensively by Russians, so that what we know as western Canada is a Russian-speaking province called Estoty, and eastern Canada a French-speaking province called Canady. Russian, English, and French are all in use in North America, Russia itself, and much of Asia, is part of an empire called Tartary, while the word Russia is simply a quaint synonym for Estoty. The British Empire, which includes most or all of Europe, aristocracy is still widespread, but some technology has advanced well into twentieth-century forms. Electricity, however, has been banned since almost the time of its discovery following an event referred to as the L-disaster, airplanes and cars exist, but television and telephones do not, their functions served by similar devices powered by water. The setting is thus a mixture of Russia and America in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries
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Transparent Things (novel)
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Transparent Things is a novel by Vladimir Nabokov published in 1972. It was originally written in English and this short novel tells the story of Hugh Person, a young American editor, and the memory of his four trips to a small village in Switzerland over the course of nearly two decades. Person first visits the village as a man, along with his father. In his second trip, Persons publisher sends him to interview R. a gifted and his third trip involves tragedy, murder, and madness. Finally, Persons fourth trip provides an opportunity for reflection on his turbulent past, in recounting Persons story, the narrator guide the reader through themes of time, love, authorship, and the metaphysics of memory. The miniature is not flawed, no, but the most splendid features of the model have been just slightly parodied. Gallant found the novel to be as casual, as unpredictable, as eccentric. New York Times Profile of Nabokov at 72 Writing Transparent Things
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Look at the Harlequins!
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Look at the Harlequins. is a novel written by Vladimir Nabokov, first published in 1974. The work was Nabokovs final published novel before his death in 1977, Look At the Harlequins. is a fictional autobiography narrated by Vadim Vadimovich N. a Russian-American writer with uncanny biographical likenesses to the novels author, Vladimir Nabokov. The novel itself has seven parts, Part One VV is born in pre-revolutionary St. Petersburg to two parents who divorce and remarry at such a rapid rate that VVs custody is transferred to his grand-aunt, Baroness Bredow. It is VVs grand-aunt who advises him to look at the harlequins, at eighteen years old, after the Bolshevik Revolution-- and after VV spends time in an Imperial Sanatorium-- he flees the country, via a fairy-tale path, on which he kills a Red Guard with a pistol. After his escape, VV makes his way to London, where he finds Count Nikifor Nikodimovich Starov, Count Starov is a great admirer of VVs beautiful and bizarre mother, and possibly VVs actual father. With Count Starovs patronage, VV attends Cambridge, where in the term of his final year, he is invited to spend the summer with a classmate. During his summer with Ivor Black, VV meets Blacks twenty-one year old sister, Iris pretends to be deaf upon meeting VV, but is quickly discovered. The two then spend the summer becoming closer, Iris inspiring VV to write poems. On one beach outing, VV discloses to the reader that he cannot swim in water without his whole body at risk of paralyzation. VV apparently must confess this before he is able to ask a woman to marry him, Iris and VV then become married and move to Paris, where VVs literary career takes off. He publishes Tamara, Pawn Takes Queen, and Plenilune, each novel in Russian, Iris also begins to write during this time, and is not considered to be accomplished by VV. She continually writes, and then rewrites, and then quits various writing projects, as Iris does not speak Russian, and VV is particularly private about his writing, Iris begins taking Russian classes from a tutor. Part one ends with Iris being shot and killed by Lieutenant Wladimir Starov-Blagidze, Starov-Blagidze is believed to have been having an affair with Iris, and passionate, and possibly mad, the Lieutenant kills Iris in the street. VV and Iriss brother cover up the affair and make the shooting look accidental, Part Two Part two begins with VV beginning to write his fourth novel and his fifth novel, both in Russian. While working on novels, he stays with friends called Mr. This couple has a daughter referred to as Dolly, and it is suggested that VV molests her. To aid him in typing up the manuscripts for these works, he hires an immaculate typist, Lyubov Serafimovna, VV, however, has no affection for her and dismisses her. VV then sets out to hire another typist, and calls the Stepanovs for aid, after VV hears Mrs. Stepanov call him an predictable madman on the phone, she directs him to a Russian bookstore to look up a typist called Anna Ivanovna Blagovo
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The Original of Laura
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The Original of Laura is the incomplete novel by Vladimir Nabokov, which he was writing at the time of his death in 1977. It was finally published, after 30 years of private debate, Nabokov had requested that the work be destroyed upon his death, but his family hesitated to carry out his wish to destroy an incomplete but perhaps important literary work. Over the next years its contents were viewed only by Nabokovs son, wife, in April 2008, Nabokovs son Dmitri Nabokov announced plans to publish the work, in what BBC2 late night news programme Newsnight later said was likely to be the literary event of 2009. Upon publication, however, critical response was negative, with commenters lambasting the quality of the writing and admonishing Nabokovs executor for publishing the work in this state. Flora initially appealed to Wild because of another woman that he’d been in love with, death and what lies beyond it, a theme which fascinated Nabokov from a very young age, are central. The book opens at a party and there follow four continuous scenes, according to his diaries, Nabokov first noted his work on the project on December 1,1974, under the title Dying Is Fun. By the summer of 1976, he noted that the story was completed in his mind, when Nabokov died on July 2,1977, he was still working on the novel, since retitled The Opposite of Laura and finally The Original of Laura. The incomplete manuscript consists of Nabokovs own handwriting across 138 index cards, the use of index cards was normal for Nabokov, the basis of many of his works, such as Lolita and Pale Fire. Nabokov was a perfectionist and made it clear that, upon his death, Nabokovs wife, Vera, and their son, Dmitri, became his literary executors, but ultimately ignored his will, and did not destroy the manuscript. Dmitri noted that Vera Nabokov failed to carry out this task, her procrastination due, to age, weakness and they placed it in a Swiss bank vault, where it remained until its eventual publication. In 1991 Vera died, leaving Dmitri Nabokov as the literary executor. Dmitri wavered on whether to destroy the manuscript, or his father’s shade, would not have opposed the release of ‘Laura’ once ‘Laura’ had survived the hum of time this long. The younger Nabokov remarked cryptically that one other person possessed a key to the manuscript, like Nabokov, many observers were on the fence about the disposition of the manuscript. The author Edmund White compared the authors last request to Virgils request to destroy the Aeneid or Franz Kafkas request to destroy his papers, Nabokov weighed in on Nikolai Gogols decision to burn the sequels to Dead Souls. In April 2008 Dmitri Nabokov told many publications, including Nabokov Online Journal and Der Spiegel, in the Nabokov Online Journal interview with Suellen Stringer-Hye, Nabokov stated that he had never seriously considered burning the manuscript. Once Dmitri decided to publish the manuscript, several short excerpts were published in advance - in the Sunday Times Magazine and also Playboy, BBC Newsnight predicted that the novels publication was likely to be the literary event of 2009. In the late 1990s Dmitri Nabokov read a portion of the book to a group of about 20 scholars at a celebration of his father at Cornell University. The scholars Brian Boyd and Lara Delage-Toriel claim to have read the manuscript, in 1999 two passages from The Original of Laura were published in The Nabokovian, a scholarly publication devoted to Nabokov
