King, Queen, Knave

Often considered the greatest writer of the 20th Century (well, to everyone except those on the Nobel committee), Nabokov was a master in his ability to wrap language with a lyricism that created prose that seems to flow off the page. If he wasn't born with this skill, Nabokov sure developed it early, as is evidenced in KING, QUEEN, KNAVE, only his second novel. It is as beautifully written as the other books of his I have read. As KING, QUEEN, KNAVE is more humorous than many of Nabokov's other books, there is a tendency to not take it quite as seriously. I think that is a mistake. The book is a wonderful read. That it has a more amusing undertone than some of his others demonstrates not a less serious book, but that Nabokov had such control over his literary talents that they shone through on the lighter material as well as they did on the heavier. A young man goes to Berlin to try to get a job with his successful uncle. He is more successful, though, in the bedroom with his aunt! Their plans to kill the old man and live off his riches go awry, in that ironic sort of way that makes you realize that the author was as much a master of plot as he was of prose. Easy to see as merely a bizarre love triangle, KING, QUEEN, KNAVE is better seen through the prism of Nabokov's well known dislike, actually more like contempt, of the theories of Sigmund Freud. The heart of psychoanalytic thought, after all, is the young man's sexual desire for his mother and competition with his father for her affections. The relations may be a touch more distant, but the characters in this novel seem to be acting out a warped vision of the Oedipus complex, mocking Freud while creating a good story to boot.

Many think this is a lightweight novel, but it was one of Nabokov's favorite - according to the book jacket - and I agree with his choice. It is a bit similar to Laughter in the Dark, but more humorous. Most of the enjoyment with this book is the discovery of Nabokov's creation. Frankly, I suggest that you skip the reviews here, close your eyes for the moment and simply read the book - the same recommendation that I make for most of his books. Read the comments later. Vladimir Nabokov (1899 to 1977) is a Russian born writer who went to Cambridge, then lived in western Europe, the US, and finally retired in Switzerland. He has a medium sized body of work with numerous novels, short works, and non-fiction. Most know him for his 1955 creation of Lolita, which he wrote and re-wrote for over twenty years before the final product. It was based on a real life French story, but set in America. He has 20 novels, and I have read about half. Eleven of Nabokov's novels come from his early European period when he could write in many languages but he wrote his first 11 novels in Russian. This is from that period. It was his second novel and it was published in 1928 as a book, then translated years later. The story is a love triangle set in Berlin. It is about the 34 year old wife of a 50 year old store owner, and the owner's young nephew. Beyond that, the reader can discover the plot. It is a very humorous and entertaining a book. Having read many of his novels and most of his best sellers, I thought it was excellent and either a touch short of his best or among the best. It is a matter of taste, but I liked "King, Queen, Knave" and "Laughter in the Dark" as his best works, notwithstanding "Pale Fire" and "Lolita." That latter show more creativity as does "Transparent Things" - as do a few of his other works. I think it is an excellent and an entertaining read. Some might not think it is among his best novels, but I liked it.

Vladmir Nabakov may be the closest kin in the twentieth century to the magnificent imagination of "The one thousand and one Arabian Nights". Yet this is not entirely an apt comparison, for whereas the "Nights" was a framework in which the dreams were presented as a reality, Nabakov's is a strange world wherein the reality is painted as a lush, evanescent dream. But beware the reader, who thinks this mere clever wordplay, for to read Nabakov is to be entranced into a highly sophisticated web where life is as much a romantic dirge as a brilliant puzzle. King, Queen, Knave was by his own admission, "my gayest novel", and yet there is a kind of sadness here amidst the gaiety and superlative sequence of almost divine juxtapositions that I have only experienced from the likes of a virtuoso rendition of Paganini. The basic story is a simple love triangle, a rich Uncle, a faux nephew and a cold aunt, and of course involves an illicit affair culminating in a murderous plot. And yet what is not simple is how Nabakov deftly draws these characters, at once ultra real and but also aloof, blatant caricatures of the human soul. Like a pack of playing cards, thinking themselves to be free, but fully boxed in. And it's quite amusingly funny, but Nabakov's humor springs from diverse and often mundane sources - the ambience, the shaggy dog, the inward blindness of his protagonists and situations involving the Uncle and the two lovers where the former is completely unaware that he is being cuckolded right under his canopy. Personally, though, what I find most delightful is the poetic details that N throws in gratuitously everywhere, e.g.- The time when Uncle Dreyer, who is the owner of a large Berlin Department store pays a surprise visit to his nephew and his cohorts who work in the sporting goods dept. And "An early customer, who wanted another ball for his dog, was ignored for an instant" or consider "an old sculptor whose work was so lifelike that he managed to convey the impression of acute chorea". The descriptions of the lovemaking are also highly erotic - but I won't quote from that, not to mention the brilliant morphing of scenes and persons. Enough said. This book is a veritable masterpiece and a highly entertaining one at that. One final quote: "A baker in the encyclopedia who had poisoned an entire parish told the prison barber who was shaving his neck that never in his life had he slept so well". And there is a wonderful twist even in the last paragraph.

This book was a gem, and, had I not known that he did some minor revisions (see preface to book) at a mature age, I would have been bewildered by the insights this young writer had into the middle-age mindset. The dry humour that is N.'s forte is blooming on every page, and the characters themselves are not the twisted demons found in Lolita or Pale Fire (Humbert or Kinbote) that we have to laugh or marvel AT lest we embrace the insanity of the character; rather, the sentiments of each character, especially Dreyer, are ones we can laugh WITH. The reader of this book is blessed with Nabokov's unquestionable gift for language and wit. It is one of his only novels that lets its guard down, allowing the reader to do likewise. What "The Big Lebowski" is for the Coen brothers, this work must have been for Nabokov in that it is a romp which Nabokov must have enjoyed writing from start to finish. Not a single character is left undeveloped, and not a single character is remotely univalent. The complexity of the work is consumate; not twisted to any point of non-reality or perversion. There is no such thing as a light read in N.'s works. This is the closest thing we'll get. (Also, very rewarding for well-read N. fans; later works cross reference it in subtle ways). Read this book!

I have read Anna Karenina, Madame Bovary, and Effi Briest... and so it was with certain trepidation that I approached yet another novel dealing with the theme of adultery. But the twists and turns (and breathtaking close calls) in "King, Queen, Knave", along with the brilliant characterization of Martha Dreyer make this book unique and well worth looking into. An excellent story. I was most impressed with the way Nabokov layed bare the tattered edges of Franz's conscience in the latter third of the story. The only reason I did not give this book a perfect rating is because the very ending left me a bit bewildered. (Maybe the author intended this)? All in all, to think that Nabokov published this book when he was but 28 years old leaves me with only one word to describe his talent: GENIUS! Read it.