Welcome To Vladimir Nabokov’s Bookshelf
I think this is fascinating. It’s like a short piece of reality TV long before reality TV was cool. But instead of bratty teenagers or redneck duck hunters, it’s a world-famous author.
It’s just a short little video of Vladimir Nabokov perusing all of the versions of Lolita on his bookshelf.
When I grow up, I want to be a novelist who’s had a book published in 8 trillion different languages with 8 trillion different covers. Just not Lolita.
And I want to put all these books on a bookshelf and show party guests the third printing of the Swahili translation of my novel. And is he wearing a bathrobe?
[Image: Wikimedia Commons]
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Back when men wore their dress robes and smoking jackets!
Ah yes, didn’t even think about that as a smoking jacket.
I think every writer wishes to have a shelf like that, I certainly wish that one day I may bore people at dinner parties with all the different copies of my books in all the different languages.
I love the first book he picks up where he’s not sure which person on the cover is older.
This video is a great find! I’ve said it before, but I must say it again — Lolita is a masterpiece. (Pale Fire I could not finish).
Robes are standard issue for pedophiles. I can’t/wont get passed what he wrote in Lolita. @lunar – I wholehearted disagree.
Ha…on the robes, don’t think it didn’t cross my mind.
Next book on my list: Lolita. Thanks for sharing this (:
His book “Invitation to a Beheading” is very good, though less well known. Definitely worth the read.
Ha! A brilliant piece of footage. Vladimir Nabokov is such an intriguing character. I received a copy of his autobiography (Speak, Memory) for Christmas, which I am looking forward to reading.
I hope you enjoy reading Pale Fire half as much as I did! Tom