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Collected Stories (Penguin Modern Classics) (Paperback)

by Vladimir Nabokov (Author) "I WAS pensively penning the outline of the inkstand's circular, quivering shadow ..." (more)

5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

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Product details

Paperback: 688 pages
Publisher: Penguin Classics; New Ed edition (22 Feb 2001)
Language English
ISBN-10: 0141183454
ISBN-13: 978-0141183459
Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.8 x 3.2 cm

Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (2 customer reviews)

Amazon.co.uk Sales Rank: 35,321 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)
Popular in these categories:
#10 in Books > Fiction > 20th Century Classics > Nabokov, Vladimir
#10 in Books > Fiction > Cult Authors > Nabokov
#88 in Books > Fiction > World > American > Classics

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Product Description

Written in inimitable, magical prose, these sixty-five stories span Nabokov's extraordinary life and career. Arranged chronologically to illuminate his development as a writer, the collection displays Nabokov's astonishing range of technical and formal inventiveness: the dazzling sleight of hand, fanciful fairy tales, ingenious puzzles, enchanting vignettes and haunting melancholic narratives full of disturbing ambiguities.

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
I WAS pensively penning the outline of the inkstand's circular, quivering shadow. Read the first page

Browse Sample Pages
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Back Cover

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	75% buy the item featured on this page: Collected Stories (Penguin Modern Classics) 5.0 out of 5 stars (2) �11.02
	9% buy Pale Fire (Penguin Modern Classics) 4.8 out of 5 stars (5) �6.24
	6% buy Lolita (Penguin Classics) 4.6 out of 5 stars (30) �5.47
	5% buy Pnin (Penguin Modern Classics) 4.2 out of 5 stars (9) �6.24

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21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Ideal introduction to Nabokov's canon., 23 Mar 2003

By	Jason Parkes "We're all Frankies'" (Worcester, UK) - See all my reviews (TOP 10 REVIEWER)

This definitive collection of Nabokov's short stories, compiled & introduced by his son Dmitri, provides the ideal introduction to Nabokov's brilliant canon. The sixty-five stories generally stem from several seperate collections of Nabokov's shorts- A Russian Beauty (1973), Tyrants Destroyed (1975) & Details of a Sunset (1976). There are also short stories that stem from other sources, such as 'Nabokov's Dozen', an example being 'Cloud, Castle, Lake'. In addition to the covenient collection of the short stories in a good value package, there is also a brief preface by Dmitri Nabokov & notes on the various stories included.

There are too many stories to detail here- though it is interesting to note the many that were written as a Russian emigre in Berlin & Paris, prior to Nabokov's later destinations: the USA and Switzerland. Highlights include fantastic/SF-style story 'Terra Incognita', the tricky relations between art and life found in 'Lips to Lips' , the amusing 'An Affair of Honour' & the title story to Tyrants Destroyed. Along with the novella The Enchanter (a tryout for Lolita, sadly not included but referred to here) this book provides the ideal introduction to Nabokov, before reading his great books such as Despair, Bend Sinister, Pale Fire, Speak Memory, Pnin & Laughter in the Dark.

Nabokov's Collected Stories also rank alongside the great writers in this mode, such as James Joyce, Flannery O'Connor, JG Ballard, Philip K Dick, Raymond Carver, Richard Yates, DH Lawrence, Borges etc.

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1 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Absorbing Riches, 12 Sep 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Collected Stories (Penguin Twentieth Century Classics) (Paperback)

This is a very valuable book for any Nabokov reader. Indeed, a newcomer to the author would also find great pleasure in any one of this vast collection. As one reads further, one begins to see the emergence of the themes dealt with in Nabokov's later novels. In particular, the early stories, written in Berlin in the 1920s, reveal the beginnings of the fascination with memories and the meaning of nostalgia dealt with in 'Lolita' and 'Ada'. These are the types of stories that enter the mind to become memories independent of their source - memories of the imaginative experience. My favourites were 'The Aurelian' and 'Sounds'.

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