The Enchanter (Penguin Modern Classics) - Softcover

Nabokov, Vladimir

Softcover

ISBN 10: 014119118X ISBN 13: 9780141191188

Publisher: Penguin Classics, 2009

Synopsis

Nabokov described this novella, written in Paris in 1939 but only published twenty years later, as 'the first little throb of Lolita'. The plot is similar: a middle-aged man wedding an unattractive widow in order to indulge his paedophilic obsession with her daughter. However, "The Enchanter" has an utterly different atmosphere, as time, place and even names remain a mystery. Nabokov transforms his protagonist's attempts to lull his twelve-year-old step-daughter into a state of 'enchantment' into a graceful, chilling fairytale.

About this title

Review:

Nabokov writes prose the only way it should be written, that is, ecstatically." -- John Updike "Masterly ... brilliant." -- V. S. Pritchett, The New York Review of Books "A gem to be appreciated by any admirer of the most graceful and provocative literary craftsman." -- Chicago Tribune "One of the best books of the year ... [The Enchanter] displays the supple clarity of a master." -- Boston Globe "Enchanting ... sleekly wrought." -- Newsweek

From the Back Cover:

The Enchanter is the Ur-Lolita, the precursor to Nabokov's classic novel. At once hilarious and chilling, it tells the story of an outwardly respectable man and his fatal obsession with certain pubescent girls, whose coltish grace and subconscious coquetry reveal, to his mind, a special bud on the verge of bloom. Masterly . . . brilliant. - V.S. Pritchett, The New York Review of Books A gem to be appreciated by any admirer of the most graceful and provocative literary craftsman. - Chicago Tribune One of the twentieth century's master prose stylists, Vladimir Nabokov was born in St. Petersburg in 1899. He studied French and Russian literature at Trinity College, Cambridge, then lived in Berlin and Paris, where he launched a brilliant literary career. In 1940 he moved to the United States, and achieved renown as a novelist, poet, critic, and translator. He taught literature at Wellesley, Stanford, Cornell, and Harvard. In 1961 he moved to Montreux, Switzerland, where he died in 1977. One of the best books of the year . . . [The Enchanter] displays the supple clarity of a master. - The Boston Globe Nabokov writes prose the only way it should be written, that is, ecstatically. - John Updike

About this edition

• Publisher: Penguin Classics
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 014119118X
• ISBN 13: 9780141191188
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 96