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Don't be terrified of Pale Fire

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Re: Don't be terrified of Pale Fire

#61

Post by 8f2ab37a-ed6c »

dilyevsky wrote: post #60
_virtu wrote: post #20

This is hilarious. I bought the book after watching Blade Runner 2049. There's a scene where some of book was being recited as part of the protagonist's anti-empathy test and I figured it had to have a deeper importance to the writers so I grabbed it on a whim. It's been sitting on my shelf. Now I'll have to move it up the list after seeing this.

The book is also in the film - joi offers to read it to k in their first scene I think. Another cool reference there is K’s ringtone is Prokofiev’s Peter and the Wolf which every soviet kid should recognize from their childhood

Specifically the David Bowie version from 1978

Re: Don't be terrified of Pale Fire

#62

Post by jjtheblunt »

OldGuyInTheClub wrote: post #16

It's a good book that I've read a couple of times but a tiring one. Nabokov puts so many traps and misdirections in it that it becomes a cryptic crossword in a distant language. He is a very smart and clever guy and never tires of reminding the reader of it. He lampoons academia while enabling many an academic career in the process. There are professors aplenty specializing in Nabokov and some in Pale Fire itself. Fo…

Shatner moment?

Re: Don't be terrified of Pale Fire

#63

Post by jjtheblunt »

razadots wrote: post #47

I love Nabokov. In fact, I named a stray cat after him who has since abandoned me. Or I, him. If you want a more approachable book of his to start off (pale fire is tremendous but daunting) I would recommend Laughter in the Dark. It is short and moves effortlessly. The characters are charming and evil. The plot reads like a suspense thriller. It is a wicked, wicked delightfully wicked book. Anyways, if you've seen my…

Luzhin's Defense / The Defense / Zashchita Luzhina is awesome too.

Re: Don't be terrified of Pale Fire

#64

Post by dang »

gizmo wrote: post #32

When people recommend Russian literature I'm always curious what they think about the other great Russian literary works. Because I find unnecessary complexity unbearable. I have no desire to read literature with 100+ named characters, unreliable narrators and Escher-like chronology. For some people narrative complexity is a draw but if I can't put a book down and come back to it two weeks later without having to sta…

You might try some of the shorter ones. e.g. from the 19th century: Gogol's short stories, Dostoevsky's "The Double", Turgenev's "Fathers and Children". They weren't all baggy monsters!

Re: Don't be terrified of Pale Fire

#65

Post by mlsu »

I read Pale Fire on the plane recently. Picked it up randomly, knew almost nothing about it. It is absolutely riotous. Most of the references probably went over my head, but I was immediately annoyed, then grinning about how annoyed I was, then tearing into the next page to try to unwrap just who the hell is Kinbote. About 10 pages in you will discover that you're never going to fully figure it out, and then the question is where the hell is this character going to take you. To the fractal depths of his soul, turns out.

And obviously the lettering is a lyrical joy.

10/10

Re: Don't be terrified of Pale Fire

#66

Post by mykowebhn »

gizmo wrote: post #59
CydeWeys wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Admittedly The Brothers Karamazov has a lot of characters, but, it does run linearly! And it's not so hard to refer to the Wikipedia article for a character list as necessary. I think the problem is some people expect to not have to do any work when reading literary novels.

I find that literature that requires work does not provide more food or insight into the human condition or a sense of wonder (or whichever benchmark you choose) than simpler and more accessible works. If complexity is not what makes the work valuable, what purpose does it serve? I posit that for some people complexity for the sake of complexity _is_ the appeal.

I just wanted to point out the logical gymnastics you just performed here: I find it true, thus it is true universally.

Your initial premise: "I find that literature that requires work does not provide more food or insight into the human condition..."

Your conclusion from this premise: "If complexity is not what makes the work valuable, what purpose does it serve?"

And you answer your own question with a cynical take: "I posit that for some people complexity for the sake of complexity _is_ the appeal."

This makes me want to kick myself for reading Hacker News to be illuminated about the arts.

Still, I love user lermontov!

Re: Don't be terrified of Pale Fire

#67

Post by gwbas1c »

Tycho wrote: post #22
gwbas1c wrote: post #15

Is this a "Bookworm's book?" Much like a "skier's mountain" or a "band's band," is this the kind of book that only appeals to a narrow audience that likes to pick apart the mechanics of a book? Or is this a book like Harry Potter, which was panned by the critics, but otherwise is awesome popular fiction?

The 'hook' of Pale Fire is this: ostensibly you're reading a long-form poem with a foreword and footnotes and editing by a friend of the poet (a poet of some eminence), but it soon becomes apparent that the editor is trying to jam his own life story into those footnotes. If you like that idea, I think you'd like the book.

I went to grab a sample on Kindle... But, argh, it's not available on Kindle!

Re: Don't be terrified of Pale Fire

#68

Post by joaorico »

I suppose it's quite off-topic, but some weeks ago I read a small book by Mary Gaitskill, the writer of the piece.

It's called "Lost Cat".

I highly recommend it. Ironically, it might be an approximate opposite of Pale Fire. It's very short, with simple yet beautiful prose, filled with intense, raw emotions.

Re: Don't be terrified of Pale Fire

#69

Post by hristov »

debo_ wrote: post #46

"Ada or Ardor" is my favorite book that I didn't understand.

Tell me about it. I think it was on the second reading that i figured out it was supposed to be alternate reality science fiction. In the beginning I started reading it because it had footnotes, naively thinking that the footnotes would explain all the bizarre nabakoivsms. Quarter in the way in i was like “these are the worst footnotes ever, they do not explain anything but make things even more bewildering; and why, when the novels characters switch between four languages, dont the footnotes provide translations, at least”. I looked in the back to see who wrote these footnotes, and it was a Russian name i did not recognize. I looked him up on the internet, wondering how this random idiot managed to get these inept footnotes published with he last work of a genius, and sure enough, it turned out it was Nabakov that did the footnotes.

Yeah, nevertheless, the book is great fun and i have read it three times. I read that Pale Fire is even more of a puzzlebox than Ada or Ardor, and i dont think i am ready for that yet. But maybe someday, when i am feeling adventurous.

Re: Don't be terrified of Pale Fire

#70

Post by OldGuyInTheClub »

jjtheblunt wrote: post #62
OldGuyInTheClub wrote: post #16

It's a good book that I've read a couple of times but a tiring one. Nabokov puts so many traps and misdirections in it that it becomes a cryptic crossword in a distant language. He is a very smart and clever guy and never tires of reminding the reader of it. He lampoons academia while enabling many an academic career in the process. There are professors aplenty specializing in Nabokov and some in Pale Fire itself. Fo…

Shatner moment?

Saturday Night Live sketch circa 1986. He's at a Star Trek convention in a small town and finally snaps at the trivia-mad, stalkerish fans telling them to "Get life, will you people?!"
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