Nabokov's recommendations: which books to read and which not

Nabokov not only praised the authors he liked, but also did not hesitate to sharply criticize the writers, despite their worldwide fame and general recognition. Therefore, the new collection of Lifehacker consists of two parts: books, which the author of "Lolita" appreciated highly, and books, about which he spoke rather harshly.

Fans of Nabokov's work have compiled a list of his reviews of various writers based on the collection "Strong Opinion". About some he spoke with great enthusiasm, to some he felt indifference and even disgust. The life hacker chose from this list books that strongly hooked Nabokov - both in a good and in a bad sense.

10 books that Nabokov liked

1. "Molloy" by Samuel Beckett

At various times, Nabokov called his favorite works of Beckett the novels "Molloy", "Malone Dies" and "Unnamed". The writer himself received a very dubious compliment: Nabokov called Beckett "the author of charming novels and worthless plays."

2. "Petersburg", Andrey Bely

Nabokov valued Bely for his "outstanding imagination." And he called his main work the third most important novel of the entire 20th century.

3. "Suburban Husband", John Cheever

Cheever wrote stories about middle-class Americans through which he exhibited the lifestyle of an entire country, and earned praise from Nabokov for his "convincing consistency." He considered Cheever himself one of his "especially beloved" writers.

4. Ulysses, James Joyce

Joyce is Nabokov's favorite writer between the ages of 20 and 40. I considered him a real genius. When someone compared his expressive means with Joyce's, Nabokov always modestly admitted that his English, compared to Joyce's champion performance, is child's play: “Ulysses is a divine work of art. The greatest masterpiece of prose of the 20th century. Rising above all of Joyce's other work. Outstanding originality, unique clarity of thought and style."

5. "Metamorphosis" by Franz Kafka

In the personal rating of Nabokov, this surreal philosophical tale takes an honorable second place among the great masterpieces of the 20th century.

6. "Anna Karenina", Leo Tolstoy

Nabokov called Tolstoy a genius, although he noticed that no one took his active moralism seriously. He praised Anna Karenina for its “incomparable prosaic artistry” and considered it the main masterpiece of the 19th century. Also, among the works of Tolstoy, he singled out "The Death of Ivan Ilyich". But "War and Peace", on the contrary, did not like it and considered it an overly drawn-out work written for young people for educational purposes.

7. "Around the World in 80 Days" by Jules Verne

A writer who, according to Nabokov, is worth reading in his youth. The story of the eccentric London inventor Phileas Fogg, who made a bet and traveled around the world, was his favorite book from 10 to 15 years old. But no longer.

8. War of the Worlds by HG Wells

Another author whom Nabokov loved in childhood and adolescence. But even in adulthood, he always spoke warmly of Wells, calling him "a writer for whom I have the deepest admiration." He considered the books Passionate Friendship, Anna-Veronica, and The Time Machine to be better than what Wells's contemporaries could write. And the novels "The Invisible Man", "The War of the Worlds" and "The First Men on the Moon" were rated "especially good."

9. "Praise to the Dark" by Jorge Luis Borges

Nabokov wrote about Borges: “How freely one breathes in his incomprehensible labyrinths! Clarity of thought, purity of poetry. A man of infinite talent. It couldn't be better.

10. "In Search of Lost Time" by Marcel Proust

Nabokov considered this novel by Proust the fourth most important masterpiece of the 20th century. However, with a proviso: only the first half.

10 books Nabokov hated

1. "Twelve", Alexander Blok

Nabokov spoke very warmly of Blok's lyrics, and in his youth considered him his favorite poet, but at the same time noted the weakness of his long works. And the poem "The Twelve" generally received a devastating review: "Nightmare. Shyly in a fake 'primitive' tone at the beginning and with a cardboard pink Jesus glued on at the end."

2. "Don Quixote", Miguel de Cervantes

Apparently, Nabokov did not like Cervantes' book. Although he read a whole course of lectures about her to Harvard students, where he disassembled the entire work literally by chapters - however, every now and then supplying his story with caustic remarks. Nabokov gave an unambiguous summary of the novel: "a cruel and rough old book."

3. "Crime and Punishment", Fyodor Dostoevsky

Nabokov not only disliked Dostoevsky, but also awarded him with a mountain of unflattering epithets: "lover of cheap sensations", "vulgar", "clumsy", "cheap journalist", "careless comedian." And if "The Brothers Karamazov" deserved a modest assessment "I strongly dislike", then "Crime and Punishment" got more: "a terrible burden".

4. For Whom the Bell Tolls by Ernest Hemingway

By his own admission, Nabokov hated this Hemingway novel. And he appreciated the writer himself, not to say very highly: “Writer of books for boys. Better than Konrad, of course. At least has a voice of its own. But I haven't written anything that I would like to write myself. In terms of mentality and emotionality, he is hopelessly immature. " Although at the same time, Nabokov considered his story "The Assassins" and the story "The Old Man and the Sea" delightful.

5. Death in Venice by Thomas Mann

Nabokov defined Mann as "second-rate, ephemeral and overblown writers." He was genuinely outraged that someone could call Death in Venice a masterpiece: Nabokov considered it an "absurd delusion."

6. "Doctor Zhivago", Boris Pasternak

A wonderful poet and a bad writer - this is the characteristic that Pasternak received. Nabokov disgusted the novel Doctor Zhivago, considering it too melodramatic and vilely written: "pro-Bolshevik, historically deceitful, with awkward trivial scenes and banal coincidences."

7. "Evenings on a farm near Dikanka", Nikolai Gogol

Nabokov's attitude to Gogol is ambiguous and contradictory: “Nobody takes his mystical teachings seriously. In the worst works, in this Ukrainian nonsense of his, he is insignificant, in the best - incomparable and unique. " But he gives a completely unambiguous assessment to the early works of Gogol: “When I want me to have a real nightmare, I imagine Gogol scribbling in a Little Russian volume after volume of Dikanka and Mirgorod: about the ghosts that wander along the banks of the Dnieper, vaudeville Jews and dashing Cossacks."

8. "The Outsider", Albert Camus

Nabokov was not particularly attracted to the existentialists. But despite the fact that he called Camus "an empty place that does not mean anything to me," the very wording raises doubts about it. Nabokov said more than once that he did not like Camus's work, and gave him the same characteristic as Mann: “Second-rate, ephemeral, bloated. Terrible".

9. "Nausea" by Jean Paul Sartre

Review of Sartre promising: "Even worse than Camus." "Nausea" was particularly disliked for "seemingly tense, but in reality very weak writing style."