The novel is the story of Dreyer, a wealthy and boisterous proprietor of a men's clothing emporium store. Ruddy, self-satisfied, and tho...
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Dec 12, 2011
Black Elephants
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Lately, I've asked people who they think are the best wordsmiths in the English language. While some people can answer that question in a heartbeat, others turn into a puddle of contemplation. My answers for the last year has been: Shakespeare, Edgar Allan Poe and Vladimir Nabokov. In every work I've read by these writers, they continually astound me with their ability to string a shocking sentence together. Every work of theirs seems innovative and full of color; it's like taking a bite into a
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Dec 29, 2010
Catachresis
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This is my favourite book of all time, from the genius of the opening page (the clock hand's 'once a minute gesture' which 'will set the entire world in motion') to every page thereafter.
The fact is, no-one can touch Nab when it comes to metaphor, intellect, descriptive precision at large, and of course, he just happens to have the greatest sense of humour of anyone who ever lived to top it all off.
The opening sequence contains such a remarkable descriptive of the sensation a More...
The fact is, no-one can touch Nab when it comes to metaphor, intellect, descriptive precision at large, and of course, he just happens to have the greatest sense of humour of anyone who ever lived to top it all off.
The opening sequence contains such a remarkable descriptive of the sensation a More...
Jul 16, 2009
Stephanie
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Vladimir Nabokov (if the universe were just, I would be writing "Nobel Prize-winner Vladimir Nabokov," but the universe is not just) wrote King, Queen, Knave in Russian in 1928, when he was an emigre living in Berlin. His son, Dmitri Nabokov (born after the novel was written) translated it from Russian to English in 1968, with Vladimir Nabokov making several changes to the story itself during the translation process. I read the English version, which is beautifully written.
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Apr 03, 2011
Upon opening Vladimir Nabokov's King, Queen, Knave (translated from the Russian by Dmitri Nabokov in collaboration with the author), I was immediately struck by the degree to which certain passages reminded me of Proust. I consider Nabokov to be one of my favorite authors, and yet somehow this had never occurred to me. Maybe, I thought, the similarity is particularly pronounced in this novel, which I had never read before? But while this may be, I quickly realized that, previous to King, Quee
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Apr 18, 2010
Steve
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The opening and setup of this early novel from Nabokov, his second (written in Russian, translated into English much later by his son), are so dazzling, from the memorable train-station first page to the relaxed but efficient laying out of all the book's major elements all in a few pages, that it feels almost churlish to complain that the second half of the book flags noticeably. That might in part be because each of the three main characters, the Berlin man with a thriving business and upbe
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Jul 23, 2011
Pete
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King, Queen, Knave is an early work by Nabokov, translated from Russian. Not the genius of Pale Fire or Lolita as a novel, or nearly as complex, but the sublime description and metaphor is all there.
Nabokov uses a unique approach to point of view in this one: he constantly jumps perspectives between the three main characters-- Dreyer, Martha, and Franz-- within the same scene, and even within the same paragraph. The POV technique works here. It never confuses me, and it adds to the More...
Nabokov uses a unique approach to point of view in this one: he constantly jumps perspectives between the three main characters-- Dreyer, Martha, and Franz-- within the same scene, and even within the same paragraph. The POV technique works here. It never confuses me, and it adds to the More...
Sep 26, 2010
William Herschel
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Jun 14, 2008
Bill
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Another amazing Russian writer. This is one of his earlier stories. At times it is just brilliant, but you can definitely see him expanding as a writer here.
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Jun 06, 2009
The following is the conversation I had with the chatty, gray-haired volunteer at my library's used-book store when I bought a hardcover copy of "King, Queen, Knave" for three dollars.
Apparently, at least according to the bookstore volunteer at my library, anyone who reads Nabokov has to be an intellectual. I d More...
Me: I'd like to get this.
Her: Nabokov. Russian. An intellectual, huh?
Me: Oh, I guess he was.
Her: No, I meant you.
Me: I don't know about that.
Apparently, at least according to the bookstore volunteer at my library, anyone who reads Nabokov has to be an intellectual. I d More...
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Dec 21, 2009
Ellen
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The deliberate flattening of the characters in King, Queen, Knave undermines the credibility of the book's love triangle as if the text was, reflexively, mocking its own form.
Martha, a brittle ice-queen who lives in an austere villa in Berlin, does not love her husband, Dreyer, and seems incapable of loving anyone. As the flat card-like character she is, however, Martha, the "queen" enjoys the power to manipulate others. Martha views Franz, her nephew through marriage, as a More...
Martha, a brittle ice-queen who lives in an austere villa in Berlin, does not love her husband, Dreyer, and seems incapable of loving anyone. As the flat card-like character she is, however, Martha, the "queen" enjoys the power to manipulate others. Martha views Franz, her nephew through marriage, as a More...
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Sep 19, 2011
Mahesh
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Definitely not one of Nabokov's best. I do not know if it's the clunkiness imparted to it by the translation but this one just doesn't make the grade for me. I am a huge Nabokophile having read almost all his works (except for Ada, which is on my bookshelf).
The plot just seems to drag on and on and on and the conclusion is highly unsatisfactory. Coupled with that are the addition of a couple of gimmicky characters and plot asides which add nothing either to the story, or as Nabokov would ha More...
The plot just seems to drag on and on and on and the conclusion is highly unsatisfactory. Coupled with that are the addition of a couple of gimmicky characters and plot asides which add nothing either to the story, or as Nabokov would ha More...
Nov 15, 2011
Bethany
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This one was disappointing in a few ways: first, the first quarter or so of the book was extremely engaging as we followed Franz on his adventure. There was more than one time that I thought to myself "this language is so beautiful I can hardly contain myself." I mean, there are few things better in life than Nabokov writing madness in some form, right? The disappointing part was that it really slowed down toward the middle and never really picked by up. By the end, things had really j
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Jan 06, 2010
J S
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Nabokov flexes some wonderful prose in this book. Dreyer is a most worthy and lovable opponent; Franz an unlikely, somewhat pathetic (but still sympathetic) protagonist; and Martha a very deplorable if murderous Bovary-esque creature. One really feels Nabokov's debt to Flaubert here, which Nabby not only acknowledges through allusions, but at times absolutely wallows in like a happy dog. Take Madame Bovary, turn Charles into a suave monster of a man, and Leon into an even more flaccid noodle,
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Nov 28, 2009
Jared
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Wow - a weird one. The plot doesn't truly reveal itself until halfway through and then - well, what does it mean in the end? One cannot talk about such things without giving it all away. The descriptions were awesome, as expected, but Christ, the story took such a long time to get to it. That said, I was definitely sucked into the characters and Nabokov does a great job of slooooowly developing the story so we feel we're on pins and needles along with them at various pivotal moments (will th
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Oct 22, 2008
Heather
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This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers.
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Mar 10, 2008
Matthew
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I borrowed a 1968 hardcover of this "bright brute" from a professor. He wrote his name on the flesh of the pages pressed together next to the spine. He told me that if you want to get a book returned to you, that's the way to do it. I wish he hadn't.
What a delight this book is. Often, I find Nabokov overwhelming and a bit overbearing - I enjoy his non-English work translated by people other than himself far superior to anything else with his name on it - but this book More...
What a delight this book is. Often, I find Nabokov overwhelming and a bit overbearing - I enjoy his non-English work translated by people other than himself far superior to anything else with his name on it - but this book More...
Sep 02, 2008
Sarah
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King, Queen, Knave by Vladimir Nabokov is one of his earliest novels, written and published originally in Russian in 1928 as Korol', dama, vale and translated and heavily edited in 1968. I read the English translation.
The novel follows Franz Bubendorf's travels to Berlin to work in his "Uncle's" department store. The uncle, Kurt Dreyer, is actually his mother's cousin. He meets his family on the train into Berlin. Martha (his "aunt") and he are instantly smitten a More...
The novel follows Franz Bubendorf's travels to Berlin to work in his "Uncle's" department store. The uncle, Kurt Dreyer, is actually his mother's cousin. He meets his family on the train into Berlin. Martha (his "aunt") and he are instantly smitten a More...
May 01, 2011
Lux
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I found this hardcover book, King, Queen, Knave by Vladimir Nabokov at Habitat for Humanity, of all places, and paid $1.99 for it. Nabokov writes almost in a delicate, sultry fashion. He can explain having sex in an extroidinary subtle manner, as he does in King, Queen, Knave. Nabokov seems to write in a higher literary manner, with a lot of emphasis on his word choice and sentences; however, he is a great story teller nonetheless.
Jun 10, 2011
Lavinia
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I really enjoyed reading this. It was interesting and alert, though basically only two big events happened throughout the 300 pages. But the manner the characters were developed and transformed during the story was really nice to follow and it made sense. Though somewhat predictable, it did not bother me, because it was a pleasure to give the author the opportunity to suggest the future and to pretend that it is all new and unexpected. I would not define this as a masterpiece, but still a very n
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Apr 28, 2008
Molly
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I had this book marked as four stars, but I reached a part where the solution to a problem was murder. I think that is too easy, and kind of lost interest but I finished the book anyway. I felt it deteriorated near the end, but maybe that was the author's intent, as the plot to murder deteriorated too. I would read Lolita before this one.
_________________________________ older review (in the middle of the book)
Four so far, but I have an affinity for the Russian authors.
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_________________________________ older review (in the middle of the book)
Four so far, but I have an affinity for the Russian authors.
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Dec 10, 2009
Braden
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I really can't put together a coherent writeup on this book. Not sure why. But I think the following statement effectively encapsulates my feelings on KQK, both positive and negative: The most "human" character in the novel is the aptly-named family dog, Tom.
For anything else, I direct you to the review done by one "Black Elephants" (http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/467...). She really nails down everything I thought about this book and then some (although I d More...
For anything else, I direct you to the review done by one "Black Elephants" (http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/467...). She really nails down everything I thought about this book and then some (although I d More...
Aug 30, 2011
Vcondratchi
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un fel de roman politist, scris ca la carte, dupa reteta, si din cauza asta cam simplist in idea sa. sau poate atat de clar ca pare simplist. dar i-a oferit lui nabokov ocazia de a se delecta cu jocurile de cuvinte. savuros. citit intr-o noapte si cateva ore pe plaja.
Dec 29, 2010
Kit
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Oh Vladi, how I love your heavenly gift for prose. Guess you could say this is sort of like "if Nabokov did Double Indemnity in his own wonderful way."
Mar 25, 2010
Laura
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really great book about a rich german couple. The man's nephew comes to work for him and ends up having an awesome affair with his aunt.
Feb 11, 2010
Carolyn
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Not Nabokov's best.....despite an attempt to re-write in his later years, this one would have been better off staying in the archives.
Feb 12, 2011
Julia
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I remember that I geberally enjoy Nabokov's writing, although I forget the particulars of this book.
Aug 07, 2011
Paul
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very fun - in the same vein as "Despair" but a bit less dark -- N is having fun with this one.
Nov 07, 2008
Richard
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nabokov was amazing and i cant wait to read the other 12+ novels....
king, queen, knave is his second and is a bleakly funny look at a gordon comstock-esque clerk named franz who is more of the a non-hero than anti-hero.... someone you can't help but despise which is a huge statement to the amazing humor and writing style of nabokov that you want to follow the mis-haps and tragedies of someone that you dont really like but dont dislike enough to enjoy their pratfalls.
fun More...
king, queen, knave is his second and is a bleakly funny look at a gordon comstock-esque clerk named franz who is more of the a non-hero than anti-hero.... someone you can't help but despise which is a huge statement to the amazing humor and writing style of nabokov that you want to follow the mis-haps and tragedies of someone that you dont really like but dont dislike enough to enjoy their pratfalls.
fun More...
Apr 17, 2007
Mindy
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Perhaps I gave this book five stars because it was my first Nabokov book and so I was blown away by his style. I was substitute teaching when I read this and had taken it to class to read while the kids worked on their projects. I remember literally blushing reading it, and thinking I shouldn't be reading this around a bunch of high schoolers. It is by no means a harlequin style book, there is no graphic descriptions of writhing bodies or so forth. However, Nabokov has a way of describing ho
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Oct 11, 2011
Jean-pascal
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Virtuosité, cynisme, humour, plaisir intense de lecture. Version française pour moi.
