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Invitation to a Beheading (Penguin Modern Classics)
 
 

Invitation to a Beheading (Penguin Modern Classics) (Paperback)

by Vladimir Nabokov (Author), Dmitri Nabokov (Translator) "IN accordance with the law the death sentence was announced to Cincinnatus C. in a whisper ..." (more)
4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
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Frequently Bought Together

Invitation to a Beheading (Penguin Modern Classics) + Despair (Penguin Modern Classics) + Bend Sinister (Penguin Modern Classics)
Price For All Three: £24.57

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Product details

  • Paperback: 192 pages
  • Publisher: Penguin Classics; New Ed edition (26 April 2001)
  • Language English
  • ISBN-10: 0141185600
  • ISBN-13: 978-0141185606
  • Product Dimensions: 19.6 x 12.8 x 1.2 cm
  • Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars See all reviews (10 customer reviews)
  • Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 96,511 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

    Popular in these categories:

    #21 in  Books > Fiction > 20th Century Classics > Nabokov, Vladimir
    #21 in  Books > Fiction > Cult Authors > Nabokov

Product Description

Product Description
Written in Berlin in 1934, Invitation to a Beheading contains all the surprise, excitement and magical intensity of a work created in two brief weeks of sustained inspiration. It takes us into the fantastic prison-world of Cincinnatus, a man condemned to death and spending his last days in prison not quite knowing when the end will come. Nabokov described the book as ‘a violin in a void. The worldling will deem it a trick. Old men will hurriedly turn from it to regional romances and the lives of public figures … The evil-minded will perceive in little Emmie a sister of little Lolita … But I know a few readers who will jump up, ruffling their hair’.

About the Author
Vladimir Nabokov was born in St Petersburg in 1899, but he left Russia when the Bolsheviks seized power. His family moved to England for a brief spell and finally settled in Berlin. His first novel in English was The Real Life of Sebastian Knight, published in 1941. His other books include Ada, Laughter in the Dark, Details of a Sunset and Lolita, his best-known novel. Nabokov died in Montreux, Switzerland in 1977.

Inside This Book (Learn More)
First Sentence
IN accordance with the law the death sentence was announced to Cincinnatus C. in a whisper. Read the first page
Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Excerpt | Back Cover
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Customer Reviews

10 Reviews
5 star:
 (6)
4 star:
 (2)
3 star:
 (1)
2 star:
 (1)
1 star:    (0)
 
 
 
 
 
Average Customer Review
4.3 out of 5 stars (10 customer reviews)
 
 
 
 
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

 
7 of 9 people found the following review helpful:
2.0 out of 5 stars Hasty and shallow, 3 Mar 2003
By Self (London, UK) - See all my reviews
With the possible exception of juvenilia such as _Glory_, this is the least important and least compelling of Nabokov's works. The dream-like frustration it portrays does not seem to have any emotional impact for the author (in stark contrast to the handling of such situations by Kafka, to whose work this one is inevitably compared). The language is loose and diffuse: the Nabokov of _Lolita_ or _Pnin_ would have told the same story, with more zest and intelligence, in half the words. This (together with _Bend Sinister_) should be at the bottom of your Nabokov list.
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2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars An all time classic, 29 Oct 2003
By A Customer
This book is stunning. It was the last book that Nabokov wrote in Russian and it explores a lot of the themes that he goes back to in later novels like Bend Sinister and Pale Fire. If I had to, I would pick those two novels above this one, but this one is certainly worth reading. I consider it one of the finest works of literature. It is funny, tragic, moving, puzzling, but ultimately very rewarding.
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5 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars If Lolita is the best, this is the second best..., 4 Feb 2002
Nabokov wrote this book in two weeks. As a result the book is fast paced, as is the reading. I couldnt stop reading it until I was finished.
The author denies having read Kafka before writing this book. The fact is that the "strangeness" of the story is akin to Kafkas works. A man that finds himself in a starnge situation (in this case, convicted to death) without any aparent reason, surrounded by stranger characters. As for the end of the book, without giving it away, all I can say is that it is Amazingly puzling... Great book from a great author!
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Most Recent Customer Reviews

4.0 out of 5 stars Kafkaesque?
I think it is reasonable to accept that this novel will have to endure repeated allusions to Kafka's early 20th century literature, particulaly the plight of Joseph K. Read more
Published 2 months ago by Room For A View

5.0 out of 5 stars No easy way out
To understand Nabokov's Invitation we must at first do away with two comparisons. By the same author; Lolita is a blue streak tour-de-force of baby boomer America, narrated by a... Read more
Published 5 months ago by Mr. A. Hunter

3.0 out of 5 stars A clever enough little tale
A clever enough little tale. Nabokov's renowned way with words is not heavily in evidence here as he opts for a disorientating and broken style, reflecting (presumably) the... Read more
Published 11 months ago by Pablo K

5.0 out of 5 stars Fascinating
Nabokov himself considered this one of his more important works. It is rich in symbolism and imagery, it is penetrating about the interaction between the individual and society... Read more
Published on 30 Dec 2006 by Liesel Knightley

5.0 out of 5 stars He is not one of us
Set in the prison-fortress of an unnamed state, Invitation To A Beheading is a darkly surreal tale chronicling the last days of Cincinnatus C. Read more
Published on 22 Aug 2005 by Black Glove

4.0 out of 5 stars Great book
Nabokovs writing is exquisite. His words roll off the page like skies on a never-ending slope, encouraging and inticing readers not to put a book down. Read more
Published on 5 Aug 2002 by rkp001

5.0 out of 5 stars A strange, haunting and fulfilled prophecy
I first read this book in the 1960's and was puzzled but liked it. In 1989 I realised that it was a strange prophecy of the Fall of Communism. Read more
Published on 1 Sep 1999

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