false 8151 23 <B>A reissue of the classic novel from the author of <I>Lolita</I> which brilliantly portrays one man's ruin through love and betrayal.</B><BR><BR><I>"Once upon a time there lived in Berlin, Germany, a man called Albinus. He was rich, respectable, happy; one day he abandoned his wife for the sake of a youthful mistress; he loved; was not loved; and his life ended in disaster."</I> Thus begins Vladimir Nabokov's <I>Laughter in the Dark</I>; and this, the author tells us, is the whole story&#151;except that he starts from here, with his characteristic dazzling skill and irony, and brilliantly turns a fable into a chilling, original novel of folly and destruction. Amidst a Weimar-era milieu of silent film stars, artists, and aspirants, Nabokov creates a merciless masterpiece as Albinus, an aging critic, falls prey to his own desires, to his teenage mistress, and to Axel Rex, the scheming rival for her affections who finds his greatest joy in the downfall of others.<BR><BR>Published first in Russian as <I>Kamera Obskura</I> in 1932, this book appeared in Nabokov's own English translation six years later. This New Directions edition, based on the text as Nabokov revised it in 1960, features a new introduction by Booker Prize-winner John Banville. 1192291 book 1932 Laughter in the Dark total:1429|5:357|4:603|3:359|2:84|1:26| 1429 5468 2058 137 4 7 false false Fri Mar 21 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Mon Mar 10 18:56:00 -0700 2008 Fri Mar 21 09:02:05 -0700 2008 more...]]> 4 1 false false Thu Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Jan 14 09:54:32 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 17 02:24:13 -0800 2009 more...]]> 3 1 false false Sat Nov 08 00:12:22 -0800 2008 Sat Nov 08 00:12:22 -0800 2008 شما تمام داستان را در یک پاراگراف کوتاه میخونید اما �...more...]]> 5 1 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Fri Oct 19 08:10:02 -0700 2007 Tue Oct 23 12:25:26 -0700 2007 any novelist, is to sympathize not with the characters but with characters' creator. There is no one in this novel to get behind, not even the betrayed wife or her sick little girl. Because they are but props, silent-movie cliches. All three of the leads are detestable, ...more...]]> 2 0 false false Wed Oct 21 12:03:21 -0700 2009 Wed Oct 21 12:59:53 -0700 2009
Casa De Libros had a small selection of literature English including this book. My love for Nabokov is well known, but I found it curious such an earlier unheard of book would be among their narrow selection of literature in English (especially as it wa...more...]]> 5 1 false false Tue Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 24 15:12:35 -0800 2008 Thu Jan 24 15:18:29 -0800 2008
It was really sinister. Al...more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Oct 16 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Sat Oct 10 12:53:23 -0700 2009 Fri Oct 16 11:11:40 -0700 2009 more...]]> 4 0 false false Sun Dec 28 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 28 15:22:50 -0800 2008 Sun Dec 28 15:47:05 -0800 2008 more...]]> 5 0 false false Fri Feb 27 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Wed Feb 25 14:09:59 -0800 2009 Fri Feb 27 15:15:33 -0800 2009 more...]]> 4 1 false false Sun Apr 08 17:38:27 -0700 2007 Sun Apr 08 17:40:27 -0700 2007
Dark but lovely. as painful az passion. stupid and intellectual at the same time. taste like some kind of... say... class-Oriented [not a very pleasant affair!]. but nice. yap! really nice!]]> 4 1 false false Thu Feb 19 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Jan 31 14:31:02 -0800 2009 Thu Mar 05 02:58:55 -0800 2009
With that opening line, Nabakov summarizes the en...more...]]> 3 1 false false Sun Jan 01 00:00:00 -0800 2006 Sun Oct 21 22:57:44 -0700 2007 Sun Oct 21 22:59:40 -0700 2007 ]]> 4 0 false false Tue Aug 18 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 02 19:33:13 -0700 2009 Tue Aug 18 04:55:26 -0700 2009 The combination of Albinus, Margot and Rex, all from Albinus' point of view really c...more...]]> 1 0 false false Thu May 08 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed May 07 07:17:07 -0700 2008 Fri May 09 07:55:25 -0700 2008 more...]]> 3 0 false false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2001 Fri Jan 25 06:27:27 -0800 2008 Fri Jan 25 06:27:27 -0800 2008
Laughter in the Dark was Nabokov's first treading of the ground he would return to almost twenty years later in Lolita-- a middle-aged man finds himself desperately desiring an underage nymphet coming off her first love affair, and com...more...]]> 4 0 false false Wed Aug 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Aug 28 05:33:11 -0700 2007 Wed Aug 29 04:28:45 -0700 2007 more...]]> 4 0 true false Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Sun Mar 04 11:34:38 -0800 2007 Sat Mar 10 23:46:57 -0800 2007 more...]]> 5 0 false false Tue Mar 17 22:58:29 -0700 2009 Mon Mar 23 23:08:11 -0700 2009
Well bravo to the author of Lolita and Pale Fire, he may have just accompl...more...]]> 5 0 false false Mon Apr 27 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Apr 09 08:30:44 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 27 08:06:29 -0700 2009 The story is one of destruction, one that can parallel nearly any obsession one can find in society today. A man completely...more...]]> 3 4 false false Thu Sep 17 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Sep 17 15:09:18 -0700 2009 Sun Sep 27 21:25:09 -0700 2009 Once upon a time there lived in Berlin, Germany, a man called Albinus. He was rich, respectable, happy; one day he abandoned his wife for the sake of a youthful mistress; he loved; was not loved; and his life ended in disaster.

That pretty much sums it up. Plus there were these other re...more...]]>