The Nabokov Russian Translation of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland

Carroll, Lewis

ISBN 10: 0486233162 / ISBN 13: 9780486233161

Published by Dover Publications, 2011

About this Item

Seller Inventory # I-9780486233161

Bibliographic Details

• Title: The Nabokov Russian Translation of Lewis Carroll's Alice in Wonderland
• Publisher: Dover Publications
• Publication Date: 2011
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0486233162
• ISBN 13: 9780486233161
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: New

About this title

Synopsis

One of the best versions of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in any language, this translation by the world-renowned author Vladimir Nabokov is beyond doubt the finest Russian translation. It is clear, witty, and wonderfully readable -- a perfect book for students learning Russian and for anyone who wants to refresh his knowledge of the language.
The translation of Alice has always presented a special problem. The narrative excitement of the child's book and the logical sense and nonsense of the adult's plus the flavor of the English puns and parodies must all be preserved. Famous for his own lucid prose style and his exceptionally clever use of puns, Nabokov handles all aspects of this translation with great skill. His version is not only accurate and faithful in the passages that are susceptible of straight translation, but also delightfully imaginative wherever the English text features a pun, parody, or other linguistic tour de force.
First published in Berlin in 1923, this translation was Nabokov's first full-length translation and his first substantial publication of any kind. Since then he has earned an international reputation as a master novelist for his works in Russian and in English.

About the Author

Lewis Carroll was the pen name of Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, an English writer, mathematician, Anglican deacon, and photographer. Best known for his classics Alice s Adventures in Wonderland, Through the Looking Glass, and Jabberwocky, Carroll was also an accomplished inventor who created an early version of what is today known as Scrabble. The publication of Alice s Adventures in Wonderland in 1865 brought Carroll a certain level of fame, although he continued to supplement his income through his work as a mathematics tutor at Christ Church, Oxford College. Carroll s whimsical characters and nonsensical verse resonated with Victorian-era readers, and his books continue to be enjoyed by numerous modern societies dedicated to his promoting his works.

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.