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Vladimir Nabokov's Pnin: The tragedy and comedy of everyday life and how we could never find a home
At the surface Nabokov's Pnin is a situational comedy. It's main character professor Timofey(Pronounced T-muff-ey)Pnin is a Russian immigrant in America trying to make a sense of the "new world" as he desperately tries to not get himself into wild "Pninian" situations where more often than not he has to become a butt of an almost cosmic joke. But as the novel progresses it firmly becomes clear what is this book is about: the idea of never having a home anywhere. The fact of the matter is that despite his comedic shenanigans and tomfoolery, Professor Pnin is probably one of the most tragic character in history of literature. A character who has lost everything yet still carries on because that's the only thing he could do anymore. Changing houses, changing cities, changing countries while he accepts the tragicomedy and the beauty and ugliness of everyday life. In many ways Pnin is probably Nabokov's most Chekovian tale. Pnin often remindes of Uncle Vanya. Except Uncle Vanya never had to see the horrors of the 20th century "modern" world.
I couldn't help but believe that Pnin would be in exile even if he ever returns to his home country. Because the fact is that home is simply not a place. Pnin is simply a man who is unfit for the cruelty of the modern world. It sounds trite but in the case of this book it's painfully true but this truth makes Pnin such a heroic character.
Nabokov himself said about Don Quixote that:
He has ridden for three hundred and fifty years through the jungles and tundras of human thought—and he has gained in vitality and stature. We do not laugh at him any longer. His blazon is pity, his banner is beauty. He stands for everything that is gentle, forlorn, pure, unselfish, and gallant.
Isn't it is also true for Pnin? At the end of the book as he drives off to the soft mist where hill after hill makes beauty of distance we couldn't pity or laugh at him anymore.
The prose is gorgeous. Full of wonderful Nabokovian playfulness, multilingualism and humour that seamlessly turns into the most melancholic writing a writer has ever written.
Highly recommended.
#entertainment
At the surface Nabokov's Pnin is a situational comedy. It's main character professor Timofey(Pronounced T-muff-ey)Pnin is a Russian immigrant in America trying to make a sense of the "new world" as he desperately tries to not get himself into wild "Pninian" situations where more often than not he has to become a butt of an almost cosmic joke. But as the novel progresses it firmly becomes clear what is this book is about: the idea of never having a home anywhere. The fact of the matter is that despite his comedic shenanigans and tomfoolery, Professor Pnin is probably one of the most tragic character in history of literature. A character who has lost everything yet still carries on because that's the only thing he could do anymore. Changing houses, changing cities, changing countries while he accepts the tragicomedy and the beauty and ugliness of everyday life. In many ways Pnin is probably Nabokov's most Chekovian tale. Pnin often remindes of Uncle Vanya. Except Uncle Vanya never had to see the horrors of the 20th century "modern" world.
I couldn't help but believe that Pnin would be in exile even if he ever returns to his home country. Because the fact is that home is simply not a place. Pnin is simply a man who is unfit for the cruelty of the modern world. It sounds trite but in the case of this book it's painfully true but this truth makes Pnin such a heroic character.
Nabokov himself said about Don Quixote that:
He has ridden for three hundred and fifty years through the jungles and tundras of human thought—and he has gained in vitality and stature. We do not laugh at him any longer. His blazon is pity, his banner is beauty. He stands for everything that is gentle, forlorn, pure, unselfish, and gallant.
Isn't it is also true for Pnin? At the end of the book as he drives off to the soft mist where hill after hill makes beauty of distance we couldn't pity or laugh at him anymore.
The prose is gorgeous. Full of wonderful Nabokovian playfulness, multilingualism and humour that seamlessly turns into the most melancholic writing a writer has ever written.
Highly recommended.
#entertainment
| 11,000 mlx | |
| 16 | |
| 3 |