Nabokov: The mystery of literary structures

Leona Toker*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Book/ReportBookpeer-review

23 Scopus citations

Abstract

Vladimir Nabokov described the literature course he taught at Cornell as "a kind of detective investigation of the mystery of literary structures." Leona Toker here pursues a similar investigation of the enigmatic structures of Nabokov's own fiction. According to Toker, most previous critics stressed either Nabokov's concern with form or the humanistic side of his works, but rarely if ever the two together. In sensitive and revealing readings of ten novels, Toker demonstrates that the need to reconcile the human element with aesthetic or metaphysical pursuits is a constant theme of Nabokov's and that the tension between technique and content is itself a key to his fiction. Written with verve and precision, Toker's book begins with Pnin and follows the circular pattern that is one of her subject's own favored devices.

Original languageEnglish
PublisherCornell University Press
Number of pages243
ISBN (Electronic)9781501707049
ISBN (Print)9781501707223
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2016

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© 1989 by Cornell University. All rights reserved.

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