The Real Life of Sebastian Knight

This is not, as some reviewers suggest, Nabokov's first published English work - he had translated Despair from the Russian in 1935 and had re-written Laughter in the Dark in English in 1938 (incidentally, this edition became his first American publication) - but Sebastian Knight does mark the author's first work that was conceived, written and published in English. Although Nabokov's decision to adopt English as his literary languge had more to do with financial considerations than for psychological or existential reasons, he must have considered the decision profound enough to make it a priciple theme of the novel. His protagonist, the Russian born Sebastian Knight, not only writes in English, but has taken his English mother's maiden name and turns his back on his native country and language - only to make a desperate effort, at the end of his life, to regain some of his Russian identity. There are many parallels between Nabokov, the author, and Sebastian Knight: both were raised in St. Petersburg, both spoke English as a child, both were educated at Cambridge and both made the decision to write in English (although Nabokov published nine novels and many short stories in Russian before the switch), but to call the novel autobiographical would be a stretch. It is, however, a biography. Sebastian's half-brother, V, disgusted with the only other biography of his brother, written by a hack who is more interested in social generalizations than in his subject's art, and who attributes Sebastian's death to "the inability of a sensitive soul to withstand the anguish of the epoch", decides to write his own account. Although the half-brother is a businessman and has had no previous literary experience, he is able to write an excellent biography because he is concerned with Sebastian's thought processes and his art. How V accumulates the details associated with his brother's life is the focus of the novel and is, as the publisher notes, a "literary detective story." As with any detective story, the sleuth often tries to assume the identity of the investigated (at least pyschologically) in order to solve the case, and often there is a blurring of identities as one personality morphs into another. As with detectives, so it is with writers. Brother V, immersing himself into the life and art of his brother, Sebastian, begins to think as his brother and his writing acquires an art of its own. And the morphing does not stop here. The plots of two of Sebastian's novels should be familiar to readers of Nabokov's Russian fiction. The Eye and The Gift are both discernible in the works of Sebastian and just as Sebastian and V become indelibly entwined, so does Vladimir Nabokov, as both creator and colleague of the two characters.

This exquisitely written novel fills one with despair. It is a sadness that was perhaps felt by many after such rare and creative geniuses as Mozart, Van Gogh, Shubert, and Gershwin all died too young after such short careers. Some of these men, like Sebastian Knight, died in relative obscurity. Sebastian's half-brother, the narrator of this novel, enters upon a journey to uncover the last months of Sebastian's life, to discover his secret, and perhaps to find out about the shadowy woman who was supposedly his last lover. Sebastian's handful of books were admired by some of the critics, who found them scholarly and poetic, and his last novel was judged a masterpiece. Most of Sebastian's books were little read by a public who were probably more inclined to read the popular potboilers of the day. The half-brother, while loving and admiring Sebastian, barely knew him himself, only knowing that Sebastian lead a lonely, sad existence, and that he suffered from a congenital heart condition. What lends much of the novel its sadness is the palpable desperation of the narrator's quest. While his efforts in uncovering his brother's secret may have been less than successful, he did learn much about what Nabokov calls our common shared humanity with the souls of others. This is a beautifully written and heartfelt narrative that should be read by those who appreciate great literature.

Vladimir Nabokov is perhaps my very favorite author, and so I approached this work withthe mindset of "it must be at least good." It is. It contains the subtlety and puzzling qualities and droll humor of his great works and still manages to work in its own little bit of beauty. It also has its duller stretches, it lacks a real point, and it is more than vaguely pretentious, but nothing unforgivable. As his first full-length work in English, perhaps it should be treated more as an experiment in compositional workability than anything else. The relative ease of reading this as compared to Nabokov's best, like 'Pale Fire' and 'Lolita,' may make it a good introduction to novices.

This is my first try with Nabokov, and I must say that I was almost overwhelmed by his masterful and playful use of the English language. A fun little detective story rests atop a rather dark investigation into the nature of human identity. In fact, there are many layers of meaning mixed up with so many cruel jests in this book, that often I found myself passing them by, promising aloud that I would read the book many more times. Recommended for all serious readers.

This is the first book I chanced to meet Nabokov. He wrote this book when he was 38 and none belived that this could make a grade on literature. But like Proust, he became a famous writer and as the Remembrance to the Things Past, to The Real Life of Sebastian Knight . I think this book was written with very profound thought after reading the Remembrance to the Things Past. And he seemed to overcomed the REAL DILEMA of Time( or deconstruct) and Liturature in his own way that doesn't be showed in RtTP.