Lectures on Literature

Vladimir Nabokov; Edited by Fredson Bowers; Introduction by John Updike

ISBN 10: 0151495971 / ISBN 13: 9780151495979

Published by Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1980

About this Item

Stated First edition B C D E - 385pp. Bright, clean & tight copy, unmarked, in Very Good condition. "'With a pleasure which is both sensual and intellectual, we shall watch the artist build the castle of cards and watch the castle of cards become a castle of beautiful steel and glass.' [] That is how Vladimir Nabokov began his course on the masterpieces of world literature. For nearly twenty years, first at Wellesley and then at Cornell, Nabokov introduced undergraduates to the delights of great fiction. Here, published for the first time, are his famous lectures on Mansfield Park by Jane Austen; Bleak House by Charles Dickens; Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert; Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde by Robert Louis Stevenson; Swann's Way by Marcel Proust; 'The Metamorphosis' by Franz Kafka; and Ulysses by James Joyce. [] In these lectures, Nabokov reveals how the masterpieces work. He reconstructs the plots, describing in loving detail their twists and turns. He draws diagrams to help readers visualize the action and setting--Bloom's and Stephen's comings and goings in Ulysses, the facade of Dr. Jekyll's house, for instance. And he quotes from the books at length to recreate the important scenes. [] Above all, Nabokov teaches us how to read--how to use our imagination and our memory. As he says in the introductory lecture, 'We ought to remain a little aloof and take pleasure in this aloofness while at the same time we keenly enjoy--passionately enjoy, with tears and shivers--the inner weave of a given masterpiece.' [] After he left teaching, Nabokov planned to publish a book based on the lectures, but he never began the project. Professor Fredson Bowers has edited the lectures from Nabokov's handwritten manuscripts and teaching copies of his books, providing a text that evokes Vladimir Nabokov's classroom style and the brilliance of his personality. As John Updike states in his Introduction: 'Now here, wonderfully, the lectures are. And still redolent of the classroom odors that an authorial revision might have scoured away. Nothing one has heard or read about them has quite foretold their striking, enveloping quality of pedagogic warmth.'" [jacket copy] "A collection of sparkling spoken essays."--V. S. Pritchett, The New Yorker. VG hardcover w/brilliant corners & crisp edges, a square & tight binding, slightly cocked spine ends pushed & upper board corners tapped, o/w still sharp & clean, wrapped in a Good, intact jacket (tear repaired) covered in archival mylar. All quite presentable.

Seller Inventory # RUB2891

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Lectures on Literature
• Publisher: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich
• Publication Date: 1980
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0151495971
• ISBN 13: 9780151495979
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition: 1st Edition
• Condition: Very Good
• Dust Jacket Condition: Good

About this title

Synopsis

Reading versions of important lectures given in the 1950s demonstrate Nabokov's critical talents and reveal his judgments on the works and achievement of Austen, Dickens, Flaubert, Joyce, Kafka, Proust, and Stevenson

About the Author

Vladimir Nabokov (1899-1977), Russian-born poet, novelist, literary critic, translator, and essayist was awarded the National Medal for Literature for his life's work in 1973. He taught literature at Wellesley, Stanford, Cornell, and Harvard. He is the author of many works including Lolita, Pale Fire, Ada, and Speak, Memory.