Stalking Nabokov

July 11, 2011
In this collection of essays, lectures, and book reviews spanning 20 years since the publication of Boyd's two-volume biography of Nabokov, Boyd demonstrates that he continues to be our leading interpreter of this brilliant but enigmatic writer. With remarkable critical insight, Boyd reflects on a wide variety of subjects ranging from the art and craft of the biographer and Nabokov's famous love of butterflies to the novelist's humor, metaphysics, and the influence on him of other writersâfrom Shakespeare to Tolstoy. For example, Nabokov's "humor springs from "the comedy of life's mismatching our expectations.... Nabokov loves and laughs at life even amid loss." In a centennial toast, Boyd captures lovingly Nabokov's enduring appeal and the essence of his genius: "He believes that the fullness and the complexity of life suggest worlds within worlds within worlds, and he builds his own imagined universes to match... he allows us to find our own way to them, just as he thinks whatever lies behind life invites us to an endless adventure of discovery in and beyond life." Boyd's graceful style and passionate advocacy achieves the goal of the best literary criticism: it compels us to pick up Nabokov and read, or read again, the work of a master.

September 15, 2011

This appealing (albeit unfortunately titled) collection of essays, addresses, and introductions written for an assortment of audiences by a noted Nabokov biographer and scholar is a delight. Boyd (University Distinguished Professor of English, Univ. of Auckland, New Zealand; Vladimir Nabokov) does more than an able job of exploring Nabokov's varied intellectual interests--beyond what he could convey in his two-volume biography--from examining Nabokov's lepidopterological pursuits to trenchant assessments of Nabokov as a writer. Boyd dissects several major novels and offers comparisons between Nabokov and writers as diverse as Tolstoy and Machado de Assis. VERDICT As is common with such collections, there's a degree of repetitiveness, with some facts, anecdotes, and quoted passages found in more than one piece. But readers can skip around among the aspects of Nabokov that interest the most--or, for example, they can read the several chapters on Nabokov's scientific interests to broaden their own understanding. A readable collection on one of the 20th century's greatest writers, this will be enjoyed by Nabokov fans and students of 20th-century literature.--Sharon E. Reidt, Marlboro Coll. Lib., VT

Copyright 2011 Library Journal, LLC Used with permission.

December 1, 2011
Boyd reveals that Vladimir Nabokov, like Samuel Johnson and Anton Chekhov, had a noble character and bore hardships with courage and dignity. Experiencing sudden, butterfly-like metamorphoses from one life to another, he fled the Bolsheviks from Petrograd to the Crimea to London, the Nazis from Berlin to Paris to New York. The wandering Ulysses changed from wealthy to poor to wealthy, from a Russian to an American writer, and from scholarly life in Ithaca to a luxurious existence in Montreux. His dominant theme, like that of his fellow exile Joseph Conrad, is loss. Boyd, Nabokov's biographer, established close relations with Nabokov's wife, V'ra, and son, Dmitri. Boyd made fascinating discoveries in the novelist's archives and was instrumental in publishing a great deal of his posthumous work. Here he discusses Nabokov's careers as lepidopterist, teacher, translator, and scholar; his butterflies, manuscripts, literary influences, psychology, metaphysics, and major works. These 26 essays, published between 1992 and 2010, are often repetitive, but Boyd has a mastery of the material, a clear style, and a penetrating intelligence. Essential for everyone interested in the Russian master.(Reprinted with permission of Booklist, copyright 2011, American Library Association.)