The Real Life of Sebastian Knight [Paperback]

Vladimir Nabokov (Author)

Product Details

• Paperback
• Publisher: New Directions Publishing Corporation (1977)
• ASIN: B000SBLPU0
• Average Customer Review: 4.3 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #8,452,359 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov was born on April 23, 1899, in St. Petersburg, Russia. The Nabokov household was trilingual, and as a young man, he studied Slavic and romance languages at Trinity College, Cambridge, taking his honors degree in 1922. For the next eighteen years he lived in Berlin and Paris, writing prolifically in Russian under the pseudonym Sirin and supporting himself through translations, lessons in English and tennis, and by composing the first crossword puzzles in Russian. In 1925 he married Vera Slonim, with whom he had one child, a son, Dmitri. Having already fled Russia and Germany, Nabokov became a refugee once more in 1940, when he was forced to leave France for the United States. There he taught at Wellesley, Harvard, and Cornell. He also gave up writing in Russian and began composing fiction in English. Yet Nabokov's American period saw the creation of what are arguably his greatest works, Bend Sinister (1947), Lolita (1955), Pnin (1957), and Pale Fire (1962), as well as the translation of his earlier Russian novels into English. He also undertook English translations of works by Lermontov and Pushkin and wrote several books of criticism. Vladimir Nabokov died in Montreux, Switzerland, in 1977.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars My Brother, Myself, August 1, 2005

By 

IRA Ross (LYNDHURST, NJ United States 07071) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Real Life of Sebastian Knight (Paperback)

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.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Master of language, July 20, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: The Real Life of Sebastian Knight (Paperback)

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.

9 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A subtle, funny, puzzling book, wonderfully written., April 29, 1999

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Real Life of Sebastian Knight (Paperback)

I usually dislike the unreliability and uncertainty of the postmodern novel, the often tiresome games the writer plays with the reader's credulity, the deliberate undercutting of the illusion of reality. But for me at least Nabokov succeeds where so many fail. This is a charming and convincing narrative, mixed with what strikes me as a deliberately insoluble mystery of identity. I can't tell you why it works; perhaps just because it is extremely well-written without a touch of the self-conscious strain of modern "literary" writing. Lots of humor. Very satisfying read.