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109th out of 277 books
—
212 voters
The Unreal Life of Sergey Nabokov
by
Paul Russell
In his novel based on the extraordinary life of the gay brother of Vladimir Nabokov, Paul Russell re-creates the rich and changing world in which Sergey, his family and friends lived; from wealth and position in pre-revolutionary Russia, to the halls of Cambridge University, and the Parisian salon of Gertrude Stein and Alice B. Toklas. But it is the honesty and vulnerabili...more
Paperback, 375 pages
Published
November 8th 2011
by Cleis Press
(first published 2010)
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The only other Russell novel I've read is 'Sea of Tranquility', one of my all-time best books. I was intrigued by his latest, an imaginative recounting of the largely unknown, undocumented life of Vladimir Nabokov's 'lost' gay brother. The scholarship is impeccable, but I struggled to get a handle on this. There's a panoply of historical personages appearing as 'real' characters, and swathes of history the reader is expected to be familiar with. Russell's account of pre-War Berlin is certainly n...more
I have never read any of Vladimir Nabakov's books and didn't know much about the author's life, let alone that he had a younger brother who had a very interesting life himself. But I have read several of Paul Russell's other novels and liked them, so I gave this one a try, despite its dry title.
The book is a remarkable achievement in historical fiction, though tilted toward the latter modifier of the genre. The book is distinctly different from Russell's earlier novels in construction, language...more
The book is a remarkable achievement in historical fiction, though tilted toward the latter modifier of the genre. The book is distinctly different from Russell's earlier novels in construction, language...more
Sergey Nabokov was born into a wealthy family in pre-communists Russia. His father was a respected member of the government. His older brother would grow to become the brilliant writer, Vladimir Nabokov. While enjoying a luxurious lifestyle in Russia, Sergey grew up in the shadow of his older brother. As Sergey matured into puberty, it became apparent that he was gay and a bit of a dandy, which, as far as his family was concerned, pushed him deeper into the shadow cast by Vladimir.
Both brothers...more
Both brothers...more
Most people who like to read know who Vladimir Nabokov was. Until this book, almost no one had heard of Sergey Nabokov. Sergey was Vladimir’s brother, younger by only 11 months. Throughout childhood the stuttering Sergey stood in the shadow of his charismatic brother, largely ignored by parents that had two children too close together. He was gay, something that his famous brother was not happy with. Born in Russia in 1900, his early life was one of comfortable wealth but uncomfortable emotions....more
A Very Real Unreal Biography/Novel
Paul Russell has a very special gift. He is able to enter the timeframe of his characters' lives in such a way that he makes the reader able to feel like a traveling companion rather than an observer from a distance. THE UNREAL LIFE OF SERGEY NABOKOV is rich in the use of language that sets a period of history, using colloquialisms and other-country means of addressing friends, family, and loved ones, and describing an historical tenor that all that happens to s...more
Paul Russell has a very special gift. He is able to enter the timeframe of his characters' lives in such a way that he makes the reader able to feel like a traveling companion rather than an observer from a distance. THE UNREAL LIFE OF SERGEY NABOKOV is rich in the use of language that sets a period of history, using colloquialisms and other-country means of addressing friends, family, and loved ones, and describing an historical tenor that all that happens to s...more
What if Nabokov's brother were a gay Forrest Gump -- a naive, incurious bystander at many of the last century's great (and not so great) moments of cultural upheaval in Europe: the Bolshevik revolution, the roaring 20s in Paris, the rise of the Nazis, Nabokov's own skyrocketing popularity as a writer, etc. etc. etc.?
An intriguing and ambitious premise, to be sure, but this book doesn't quite deliver. Russell is delightful when he's describing the small, queer moments of clueless little Seryosha...more
An intriguing and ambitious premise, to be sure, but this book doesn't quite deliver. Russell is delightful when he's describing the small, queer moments of clueless little Seryosha...more
Who knew? Vladimir Nabokov had a gay brother, Sergey, just 11 months younger, who stayed behind in Europe when Nabokov came to America, had a longterm love affair with another man, and then met a terrible fate at the hands of the Nazis. Russell's imagining of Sergey's short life is a remarkable act of literary excavation—by turns whimsical and gripping, magical and sobering.
The novel unfolds leisurely in pre-Revolutionary Russia, then moves to Paris and Berlin in the decadent decades between the...more
The novel unfolds leisurely in pre-Revolutionary Russia, then moves to Paris and Berlin in the decadent decades between the...more
I am enchanted by the title of The Unreal Life of Sergey Nabakov. 'Unreal'. What an odd word to use.
Sergey Nabakov was indeed a real person, although his only significance to history appears to be his presence as a satellite figure that spent much of his time loosely orbiting around a space occupied by more luminous and memorable bodies. Chief of these was his brother Vladimir - I had never heard the name, but I certainly know of his most famous work.
Sergey was an 'invert' (homosexual) who inh...more
Sergey Nabakov was indeed a real person, although his only significance to history appears to be his presence as a satellite figure that spent much of his time loosely orbiting around a space occupied by more luminous and memorable bodies. Chief of these was his brother Vladimir - I had never heard the name, but I certainly know of his most famous work.
Sergey was an 'invert' (homosexual) who inh...more
Here's my review of this strikingly good novel, one that's literary yet so readable, for the Historical Novel Society's review magazine. They're a great organization if you love historical novels and history.
This beautifully imagined and written novel, which feels more like a literary biography than a fiction, tells the story of Vladimir Nabokov’s younger brother, a brother who followed too soon—11 months—after the 1899 birth of his bullying, brilliant sibling. Author Russell heard about Sergey...more
This beautifully imagined and written novel, which feels more like a literary biography than a fiction, tells the story of Vladimir Nabokov’s younger brother, a brother who followed too soon—11 months—after the 1899 birth of his bullying, brilliant sibling. Author Russell heard about Sergey...more
Paul Russell is a lovely, immersive writer, and while the story was such that made me carry on reading at an anticipatory clip, occasionally I would stop and marvel at the skill of his sentences. Now, I don't know enough about Vladimir Nabokov's writing to know if Russell's style pays homage at all, but he is subtle about the way he presents everything. The over-the-top characters like Cocteau or the ballet enthusiasts feel natural – By that, I mean that at no point does the writing sound like,...more
After reading this biographical story I'm sure I want to read every book, story and poem written by any member of Nabokov family. I've always been very intrigued by stories of families who lived in the times of Great Revolution in Russia and the way Mr Russel wrote about Sergey and his relationship with his brother made me cry and laugh, it made me surprised, sometimes angry but, at least, I don't regret any minute which I spent on reading this magnificent book. Only thing I regret is that I rea...more
One of my top three gay novels, ever, along with "Call Me By Your Name" and "What Love Means to You People." Paul Russell has written a slew of novels, but this is of another order. Set against the background of the beau-monde and demi-monde of Europe, between 1900 and 1945, it has rich historic texture. In Russell's superb handling of real facts (including the existence of the title character), the book has a flavor reminiscent of Vollman's "Europe Central."
I enjoyed it, mostly. Interesting idea for a novel, to say the least. If you're a Nabokov fan, it's a good read. I knew that Nabokov had a gay brother, but didn't know much about Sergey's life, and while this is a fictionalized account, it remains (mostly) realistic and based on what can be known or assumed. There's a very complex, critical, but ultimately forgiving portrait of Nabokov here, but it's Sergey's story that is heartbreaking.
Reading this book, experiencing the period in history it covers, through the eyes of the main character was such a different and moving experience, that I need a few days to compose a worthy review. Will edit and update when done.
01/03/12 ETA: Absolutely engrossing, the author has put together the story of a shy, endearing, vulnerable, unforgettable young man, valiantly facing circumstances that would have destroyed a lesser soul. Kudos, Mr. Russell, for a brilliant performance.
Highly recommend...more
01/03/12 ETA: Absolutely engrossing, the author has put together the story of a shy, endearing, vulnerable, unforgettable young man, valiantly facing circumstances that would have destroyed a lesser soul. Kudos, Mr. Russell, for a brilliant performance.
Highly recommend...more
"All your deepest emotions may seem real to you, but they are nonetheless counterfeit." (p. 84)
Of course, I loved all the allusions to Vladimir Nabokov's stories, most noticeably Lolita, that Russell includes in this imaginative rendering of Sergey's life. The language is beautiful and the jumps from Sergey's present in early 1940s Berlin to his past in mainly St. Petersburg and Paris flow very well - I didn't feel disoriented at all.
Even though this book is not an exact portrait of Sergey Nabo...more
Of course, I loved all the allusions to Vladimir Nabokov's stories, most noticeably Lolita, that Russell includes in this imaginative rendering of Sergey's life. The language is beautiful and the jumps from Sergey's present in early 1940s Berlin to his past in mainly St. Petersburg and Paris flow very well - I didn't feel disoriented at all.
Even though this book is not an exact portrait of Sergey Nabo...more
This is a remarkable, and remarkably enjoyable, book. I never imagined I'd trip so easily along with the gay brother of Nabokov's "narration" of the end of the Russian world and onslaught of Bolsheviks and Soviets, the early years of the 20th century in Oxford and Paris, and the harrowing truth of WWII. But I did. I loved every description of genteel Russia, or anxious expat Oxford or Paris with equal, utter belief. His family and sexuality tethered it all, without salaciousness, to a very human...more
There's a remoteness that pervades this novel. The ballet, inter-war Europe and most especially our protagonist, Sergey Nabokov, remain always at a distance. Maybe this is intentional, this is afterall a story of two lost worlds, pre-Revolutionary Russia which the Nabokov family fled when Sergey and Vladimir were in their late teens, and the grand capitals of Europe about to be changed forever by the second world war.
"You are all a lost generation," Gertrude Stein said to Ernest Hemingway of the...more
"You are all a lost generation," Gertrude Stein said to Ernest Hemingway of the...more
I liked this book. I wish it had more details about Sergey's relationship with Vladimir and what was happening in the war. This book plays second fiddle to the lesser known, but far superior, I Am My Own Wife (Charlotte von Mahlsdorf's autobiography). But as a quasi-fictional biography, The Unreal Life was a pleasant read.
Hmm 3* or 4*. Was fun to read, and started off really well - I found the discriptions of pre-revolutionary aristocratic Russia interesting. But as the book went on, I was increasingly frustrated by the name dropping. Still was a good read, and well written.
Just finished this one. When I read Russell's "The Coming Storm" a few years ago, I became deeply enamored. Now I am convinced that he is a master of literary form with great imagination. I can't recommend this book highly enough.
A beautifully rendered history. Parts reminded me of Woody Allen's Midnight in Paris regarding its nostalgic portrayal of a more cultured time. Though at its core it is a truly Russell book. Fans will not be disappointed!
I appreciate strong writing. I appreciate the unusual, when there's something novel in a novel. Combine the two and you have a sure-fire winner for me. This is an extraordinary work by a daring and talented author.
I didn't expect to like this but as I read on I found I liked how it flowed and the voice of the main character. Ultimately sad but a perspective on a time and people in it. In that sense it was like The Paris WIfe.
picked this book up out of boredom. actually sort of liked it. interesting guess at the lives of Cocteau, Gertrude Stein and other artsy-fartsy folks of inter-war Europe.
This was a really touching novel. The character of Vladimir Nabokov's younger brother Sergey is subtly and sensitively drawn. Before I read this, I didn't know that Nabokov had a younger brother, let alone that he ended up in Germany in WW II. It was at once fascinating, tragic and comic. A great read for history novel buffs.
Didn't grab me. Could have used an better editor - about 15 per cent too long.
A good easy read but also an unsatisfying one. The author has clearly done a lot of research before writing his book but this seem to have come in the way of the imaginative process. The repetitive name-dropping and the apparent systematic shoehorning of known historical facts seem to leave no space whatsoever for a true discovery of the hero and his inner life as the author may have seen them. A book victim of its ambition, I think.
An amazing book!
It really is "unreal" writing, especially in the way the main character is developed. It's as if he's a shadowy flip side to his very famous brother. The description of Cocteau and Gertrude Stein and their bunch of charlatans is subtly snide and quite accurate, it seems to me.
I really enjoyed this window into another place and time. The title character - based on the real-life brother of writer Victor Nabokov - lived a life that spanned the early decades of the 20th century. Born into Russian aristocracy, he circulated among artistic and literary luminaries of his day in western Europe until his final days in war-torn Berlin.
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Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.
Paul Russell received his doctorate from Cornell in 1983 for a dissertation on the novelist Vladimir Nabokov and is currently a Professor in the English Department at Vassar College.
His fourth novel, The Coming Storm won the 2000 Ferro-Grumley Award for Gay Male Fiction.
His short fiction has appeared in literary...more
More about Paul Russell...
Paul Russell received his doctorate from Cornell in 1983 for a dissertation on the novelist Vladimir Nabokov and is currently a Professor in the English Department at Vassar College.
His fourth novel, The Coming Storm won the 2000 Ferro-Grumley Award for Gay Male Fiction.
His short fiction has appeared in literary...more
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Mar 19, 2013 03:07pm