Vladimir Nabokov: The American Years

Who would have thought that the world's foremost Nabokov expert is a Kiwi? Amazing. Boyd's two volume bio is a must for all Nabokovistas. He splits the life neatly between the Russian Years, ie from birth until emigration to the US, and American Years, ie the rest. Boyd tells us Nabokov's life story and interweaves the main prose works and their interpretations. While still a Russian novelist, Nab published under the pen name Sirin, which means Bird of Paradise. How appropriate this choice of name! The man was born towards the end of the 19th century in Zarist Russia to an aristocratic family of latifundistas and jurists in parlament and government service on cabinet level. He grew up in riches, spending his childhood between the town appartment in St.Petersburg (to which I made a pilgrimage in 2006) and a splendid country mansion in the vicinity. He began collecting butterflies as a boy; he started painting, but dropped that, it was not his real talent. He started writing poetry early. He became personally rich as a teen, when he inherited a fortune from an uncle. He lost it all in the Bolshie revolution. He escaped to Western Europe with the family as a young man. He studied in England and was a notorious playboy, a gifted chess player, soccer goalkeeper, tennis coach and poet. He moved to Berlin, which was the center of Russian emigration. His father was killed by Monarchist assassins, perversely. (One of the assassins later became a Nazi spy on emigrants.) He earned the family upkeep with English and tennis lessons. He became a well established novelist as Sirin. He met Vera and married her and had a son with her. When the Nazis took over, they prepared to move to France, which however took a few more years, partly because Vera earned well as top secretary to Berlin businesses. Her Jewish family background remained a strong motivator to leave, however. They moved to Paris, and a few years later were lucky to get away in time to the US. Nab always claimed that despite his many years of living in Berlin, he never learned German. This is doubtful, and probably a political statement. Other writers have traced some of Nab's texts and letters to sources such as Schopenhauer or H.C.Andersen, an important source and probably in the German translation. It is even likely that he did read his favorite subject of ridicule Thomas Mann in the original. Possibly also Freud, who was his supreme bete noire. If you want to look at Nab's Russian novels, my suggestion would be The Gift, Lushin's Defense, Bend Sinister, and the Invitation to a Beheading. But actually, go for all of them, and don't forget the short stories. The American years of the 2nd volume include the Swiss years. He spent the last years of his life in a hotel on the Lac de Geneve. Odd that he never owned a house after losing the 'paradise' in Russia. He refused to try to replace the loss. His work in the US can be divided into 3 categories: museum work as a curator for the enthomology depart

The man himself once said, "Biographies are generally fun to write, less fun to read." The implication is that the person who authors the biography becomes so immersed in the life of their subject that biographies end up being labors of love. However, take that biography and assign it to a student...I would have to say that this two-volume biography of Nabokov is the mathematical proof that disproves the formula above. Boyd plays the role of historian/biographer, spending time explaining the political scene of Russia early on in N's life, and traces the movements of the most significant person in N's first twenty years; his father. Of course, this is probably out of necessity considering his father's position in the whole political mish-mash that was fin-de-siecle Russia. I might gripe and say that there's too much attention paid to the politics, but that's because I'm an English major, not a historian or a politician, and I'm reading for pleasure. Were I reading for a thesis, these excerpts would be invaluable.I'm thrilled about the chapters of Russian emigre life in Europe following the Bolshevik Revolution. Not only does it trace the influence that wafts through N's early stuff (and follows through his life), but it also gives us a taste of the climate of those years, plus a roster of sorts of who was part of that microcosm. This is going to be, in my estimation, a highly researched period of literature, once it becomes fashionable that is, and this biography will be a resource for all those students looking for a glimpse into that world. Studies in Nabokov are really beginning to blossom, and this will spur interest in that era as well.N's life is portrayed as an emerging talent, rather than a natural genius who could command language and characters as well at 20 as at 70. This humanizes Nabokov, a figure who can sometimes seem a little god-like to his devotees. Expelling mist and myth is the mark of a good biography, next to joyously reporting the life of the subject. The analysis provided by Boyd in the sections dealing with early literature (such as the comparative criticism of his first novel "Mary" and the story "Return of Chorb") is revealing in this case because he can explain what Nabokov lacks here, or does not do so well early on. Extensive references and a collection of satisfying photographs complete the package. One of the best photos being a shot of the Rohzdestveno manor that Nabokov inherited from his Uncle Vasily at age 17. A 17 year-old with his own mansion. Can you say harem?

Brian Boyd's scope and research in this book are just outstanding. I'm not usually that interested in biographies of writers, often the biographer does not relate their life to their literature in a way that interests me, but Nabokov is one of my favorite writers, so I thought I'd give this book a try. First you should note that it is a huge book that spans a large time frame, but you shouldn't be put off by the size, because Boyd's prose is very succinct and the chapters are manageable. It's clear to me that he appreciates Nabokov's works, as the best chapters are the ones detailing the periods of time when Nabokov is writing his works. There is so much great background information to be found here, that Nabokov wrote on index cards, the road trips that influenced Lolita, and Nabokov's relationship with his wife, Vera. This is what literary biographies should be like. I highly recommend this to any fans of Nabokov who want to learn more about his life and his writing.

Brian Boyd's work on Nabokov has been hailed by scholars around the globe; this biography (and the companion volume on The American Years) proves Boyd's brilliance.When I purchased the two volumes of the biography, I was a bit intimidated by their sheer size. The Russian Years alone is nearly 700 pages, and The American Years even larger. Yet I soon found myself enthralled in Boyd's detailed portrait of Nabokov and his work.In The Russian Years, Boyd, as a good non-Freudian reader of Nabokov (as Nabokov would have wished), provides intimate details of Nabokov's early family life and his trials and tribulations as an emigre writer in Europe. Boyd provides a fascinating account of Nabokov's father, who's assassination would impact young Nabokov so much (and later, provide inspiration for the "assassination" in Pale Fire). But Boyd, thankfully, does not try to explain Nabokov through the death of his father; he meticulously lays out the facts and builds a complex portait of the man, and his fiction.To be honest, I was far more interested in reading about Nabokov's American years, but after reading this book, I am grateful to Boyd for his serious scholarship, his lively prose, and his close analysis of Nabokov's oeuvre. I'm glad that I didn't pass up the chance to read this wonderful work.

In my review of Vladimir Nabokov: The Russian Years, I say that "I am grateful to Boyd for his serious scholarship, his lively prose, and his close analysis of Nabokov's oeuvre." That comment applies wholeheartedly to this volume as well.As a professor of literature at Cornell, Nabokov taught his students to focus on the details of literature. He taught them that the small details of a fictional world were far more important than broad generalizations about literary trends. One infamous midterm question asked the students to describe the wallpaper in a character's bedroom--a description that was only provided in a single line of the novel. Nabokov believed that good readers paid attention to details like this, and specific, startling detail was what made reality beautiful. I think Nabokov would have approved of Boyd's detailed, beautiful biography.Boyd is a good Nabokovian. He sees the details of Nabokov's life and presents them to us vividly. He also analyzes the details of Nabokov's work, and provides us with lucid, and often surprising, readings and interpretations's of Nabokov's novels.In The American Years Boyd reminds us why Nabokov was once hailed as perhaps the greatest writer of the latter half of the 20th Century. And after staying up all night to finish the enthralling story of Nabokov's life, I would have to say that Boyd is right. Nabokov will certainly be remembered as one of the greats, and Boyd has given Nabokov the biography he deserves.