Glory
by Vladimir Nabokov
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other reviews (showing 1-20 of 226)
Read in June, 2008
Not one of Nabokov's heaviest books, to be sure, and not so full of those verbal acrobatics that so enhance his later work; in fact Glory is almost universally considered his least remarkable novel, but I quite enjoy it. Some memorable, well drawn characters: the witty and languorously charming Darwin, who is given one of my favorite descriptions in the book when we are familiarized with the soles of his shoes as he always has them listlessly propped up on some piece of furniture. Equa...more
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Read in November, 2007
First, if you get the Vintage edition, don't read the book description! It's terrible, it must have been written for another book.
That being said, the book itself is wonderful. Martin Edelweiss is a helplessly romantic mama's boy whose main ambition is to gallop through life with loud enough virility to make ladies swoon. Year after year of his life (or chapter after chapter), Nabokov poses grander situations in which Martin feels challenged to make his life more picturesque, or himself mor...more
That being said, the book itself is wonderful. Martin Edelweiss is a helplessly romantic mama's boy whose main ambition is to gallop through life with loud enough virility to make ladies swoon. Year after year of his life (or chapter after chapter), Nabokov poses grander situations in which Martin feels challenged to make his life more picturesque, or himself mor...more
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Read in October, 2005
recommends it for:
Nabokov fans
If you want to know why Nabokov hates George Orwell, you'll find the answer here, ha, ha, ha. Not my favorite of his books; it's dry in the way his later American stuff was, but it comes together so nicely in the end that it's all worth it. Still, it's a treat, considering all the books out there that start out with some interesting stuff but turn it into a steaming pile of feces by the end, e.g. anything by Chuck Palahniuk and th
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Read in January, 2002
recommends it for:
exiles
Martin's days at Cambridge are my favorite. His roommate Darwin, the newspapers getting sucked up through the fireplace, rowboats on the Cam: it all draws me into a foggy fantasy world. Meanwhile, Martin teems with the wild adventurousness of an exile. He's a character that you can count on to take chances.
This doesn't have the linguistic cojones found in English-language Nabokov, but it's the adventure that counts.
This doesn't have the linguistic cojones found in English-language Nabokov, but it's the adventure that counts.
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"Petals had fallen from the almond trees, and stood out pale on the dark earth of the damp path, like almonds in gingerbread. Not far from some enormous cedars of Lebanon grew a lone birch tree, with that particular slant to its foliage that only a birch has (as if a girl had let her hair down on one side to be combed, and stood still). "
Another great book from Nabokov.
Another great book from Nabokov.
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Read in December, 2007
It's great and the writing is, of course, wonderful; I just didn't love it as much as I love the other Nabokovs I've read. Martin Edelweiss didn't feel palpable to me. Also -- what is up with the description of the book on the back cover of the Vintage edition? I guess you could describe the contents of the book that way, but it wouldn't be at all accurate.
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I forgot how funny this book was. The very idea of Rasputin using the telephone to court a beautiful woman. The telephone, an instrument that would not allow him the power of his hypnotic gaze. That is too rich. Somebody -- I''m talking to you, Ian Frazier -- ought to write a Shouts & Murmurs column on that subject.
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Read in March, 2008
Ah, my first Nabokov. I have a feeling I will remember reading this and falling in love with him. All I've heard forever and ever is how much I needed to read him, and now that I've begun, I can safely say I will continue. And besides, who doesn't love reading those Vintage Paperbacks? The textures of their covers is divine!
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Read in September, 2007
Didn't know anything about this book, and just picked it up off the shelves of a used bookstore for a trip. Ended up being the perfect book for the adventure I was on. Could relate to it in so many ways. Anyone who is an adventurous dreamer should read this.
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Read in January, 1996
Really great novel by everyone's favorite Russian emigre. I liked it better than Pale Fire, most people would probably argue me on that one, but fuck you, I say.
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I am in love with his lyrical voice. He mentions the kinds of detail I would notice were I there in the protagonists shoes.
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Glory is slow and Russian for about 4/5 of the book - not bad, just Russian - but the ending is fucking brilliant.
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Yo, yo, yo; what up...
this is nat J.
I'm findin' this book hella raw, yo!
I'm trippin off this book fo real!
this is nat J.
I'm findin' this book hella raw, yo!
I'm trippin off this book fo real!
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