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John E.
I've read it many times and I tell people to read the poem first, by itself. Then go back and read the poem going back and forth from the poem to the commentary. I tell them, once you understand what's going on you'll stop going back and forth but you have to understand what the poem is first I think to "get" the intro and commentary.
Nicola
I disobeyed Kinbote and read it in order - intro, poem commentary. Though I did initially flip from the commentary back to the poem, I soon got bored of the hassle and simply went on reading as if it was a whole separate part and I really don't think I missed out on some tremendous reading experience. However, whenever the annotations were connected to another one, I flipped between those which definitely improved the experience to an extent because it's just too easy to forget crucial details otherwise.
Rick Hodges
I think the author intended it to be read in order because the necessary information is revealed in order. Nabakov even ordered certain elements alphabetically so that the would be revealed that way while reading the index. It's why the "distant land" of Zembla starts with a Z, for instance.
Michael Delizia
I recommend reading it as if it were what it purports to be: a poem by John Shade with introduction, notes and index by Charles Kinbote. Try to keep it all in your head and reassemble it there as it starts to make sense. You'll find yourself playing a challenging game with Nabokov.
Dereck
I read this book pre-internet because I was a Nabokov fan and thought it was actually poetry until I began reading the notes. I guess it depends on your preferred method of going through life; no one likes happy surprises anymore, or doing things without being told by someone or some film or website how you should feel about it beforehand. If you don't mind being laughed at by your Kinbote peers, forget that you've been told what it actually is. If you find that you can't do that, you're being foolish and your experience will be fraudulent no matter what.
Miles Ross
I read it twice. The first time i read the poem and then commentary afterwards. The second i flipped back and forth from the poem to commentary. The second method was BY FAR the better one. Please do this. If you don't like physically flipping back and forth (it definitely is tedious), listen to the audiobook.
Scott
I read the first half by reading the first two cantos, and then the commentary. For the second half, I went back and forth between the poem and the commentary, reading the ebook on two tablets at once. I found the second way much easier to follow, and much more engaging.
Martin Olson
I read it in order. Except when I didn't.
One of my favorite comedies ever.
One of my favorite comedies ever.
Alistair
Read each canto then read the notes to that canto, rereading the relevant stanzas as you get to them. When you finish the notes to the first canto move on to the second canto, then read those notes, and so forth.
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