Laughter in the Dark by Vladimir Nabokov (December 2021)

[Nigeyb]

A buddy read of....


Laughter in the Dark

by

Vladimir Nabokov

Albinus - rich, married, middle-aged and respectable - is an art critic and aspiring filmmaker who lusts after the coquettish young cinema usherette Margot. Gradually he seduces her and convinces himself that he is irresistible to her, but Margot has other plans. She wants to be a film star, and when Albinus introduces her to the American movie producer Axel Rex, she sees her chance - and plotting, duplicity and tragedy ensue.

Deadpan and devilishly funny, Laughter in the Dark is a tense, teasing account of lust, infatuation and self-deception.

[Blaine]

I'm in!

[Roman Clodia]

I *love* these latest Penguin covers of Nabokov - they're always so intriguing :)

[Alwynne]

Definitely and wonderful colours.

[Kit]

I may join, will see how I go.

[Alwynne]

Great Kit, I've got my copy now so all set.

[WndyJW]

I hope to join in on this.

[Susan]

I have just started this. I haven't read any fiction by Nabokov before, only his memoir, Speak, Memory.

[Roman Clodia]

Very interested in your verdict, Susan - Nabokov has such a unique style and every books of his I've read so far is both very different and yet also instantly recognisable as Nabokov.

[Blaine]

It was definitely worth a read. Reserving further comment (other than in my brief review) until our discussion

[Susan]

I loved this! It was such a surprise but, when I opened my kindle, this was the novel I wanted to read. What was most interesting to me was that the author told you what would happen and yet I was still so gripped by the storyline and the characters, frankly, were not sympathetic, but I did sympathise with them.

[Kathleen]

I expect my library copy to come in next week, and hope to start then. I enjoyed your reviews, Ben and Susan. I have read Lolita, quite a long time ago now but it is still pretty vivid in my memory. Will be interesting to see how this compares.

[Susan]

I haven't read Lolita, but I believe this was a precursor to it? I am now keen to read more Nabokov. I did enjoy 'Speak, Memory,' but never seemed to get to his novels.

[Roman Clodia]

I don't think this was formally a precursor to Lolita but Nabokov does return to that structure of the 'nymphet' (his word) and an older, besotted man in a number of books.

I'm always up for more Nabokov as he's one of my favorites despite some problematic content.

[Susan]

I quite fancy Pale Fire, Pnin or Invitation to a Beheading. I need to read Lolita too, but probably not directly after Laughter in the Dark.

[Roman Clodia]

I loved Pale Fire, 6 stars! I definitely want to reread Lolita and haven't read Pnin or Invitation - Lolita, especially, might make a good buddy read some time next year?

[Blaine]

Pale Fire is on my TBR list, probably in the first half of next year.

So much to read!

[Alwynne]

Seems we're on trend with this one, the lead actress and the co-creator of 'The Queen's Gambit' are collaborating on an adaptation for future release.

[WndyJW]

I loved Pale Fire, the only Nabokov I’ve read. For the fans familiar with Nabokov what are the favorite titles?

I’ve ordered Laughter in the Dark.

[Hugh]

I have only read Pnin and Pale Fire, and enjoyed both. I have a copy of this one and will read it some time in December.

[Hugh]

Oh, and I also read a story collection Nabokov's Dozen: Thirteen Stories, but that was years ago and I don't remember it very well.

[Roman Clodia]

WndyJW wrote: "I loved Pale Fire, the only Nabokov I’ve read. For the fans familiar with Nabokov what are the favorite titles?"

I loved Nabokov's Ada, or Ardor: A Family Chronicle, so much that I put it straight back on to my reread list.

I think I read Lolita too young (18/19 when I was a student) and while I appreciated the tension between the beautiful words that come out of Humbert Humbert's mouth and his actions, I didn't really have the critical apparatus at that time to articulate for myself what's going on there and how I felt about it - one of the reasons I've been meaning to reread it for years.

A more fun book of his (fun in a Nabokovian way!) is King, Queen, Knave.

[WndyJW]

Having only read Pale Fire, I don’t know what makes his books Nabokovian, other than beautiful prose, but I’ve been eager to reread him so I hope to know soon.

[Alwynne]

Roman Clodia wrote: "I loved Pale Fire, 6 stars! I definitely want to reread Lolita and haven't read Pnin or Invitation - Lolita, especially, might make a good buddy read some time next year?"

I'd be happy to re-read 'Lolita' like you read it young thought it was incredible but didn't fully understand it. I loved 'Pale Fire' too, less so 'Pnin' also enjoyed 'Speak, Memory'.

[Roman Clodia]

So how about a buddy read of Lolita as there are a few of us here who want to read/reread it? We could schedule it for next Spring so that it's not too close to Laughter in the Dark - March? April? May?

[WndyJW]

Sounds good to me.

[Susan]

I would definitely join in as I haven't read it before and it would be interesting to compare the two.

[Nigeyb]

It's a brilliant if disturbing novel

[Nigeyb]

I'll add it to the schedule for May 2022 - we can always change the date if necessary.

[Susan]

It is a disturbing theme, but then other authors (Evelyn Waugh for one) often makes flippant comments about subjects such as schoolmasters and boys, so it is important to keep historical context in mind when reading such works. On a less disturbing theme, I am currently reading a Golden Age detective novel, set in the 1940's, and all the female characters are either nags or nymphs! It makes you realise why political correct language was implemented and reminds me of 1970's comic 'humour,' which relied so much on stereotypes...

[Roman Clodia]

Wonderful, thanks Nigeyb for your usual super-efficiency! I'll add it to our bookshelf.

[Kathleen]

I got my copy of Laughter in the Dark, took a peek, and think it will be hard to put this one down.

I too am hoping this will help me understand the meaning of "Nabokovian" prose. So far, I'm agreeing with the quote from John Updike on the back of my copy:
"Nabokov writes prose the only way it should be written, that is, ecstatically."

[Alwynne]

Nigeyb wrote: "It's a brilliant if disturbing novel"

By all accounts precisely what Nabokov intended, that and setting himself an intellectual exercise based on whether or not he could use language to manipulate readers and make them root for the bad guy.

[Susan]

I rooted for him. Even though he was utterly stupid and completely wrong. So Nabokov succeeded with me.

[Kathleen]

I've just finished, and find myself somewhere between Ben and Susan on this. I was very disappointed not to get immersed in the setting/time period--the story could have happened any time and anywhere. And I found the first half a little tiresome. But by the second half it was hard to put down. I knew Nabokov was good at irony, but didn't remember he was so good at suspense!

[Susan]

That's a good point, Kathleen. There wasn't a great sense of time/place, aside from certain comments - for example, the emergence of cartoons, which was mentioned, and the politics of Margot's brother (which really was just that of any youth caught up in aggressive/gang behaviour and raging against those with more wealth then him).

[Alwynne]

I'm leading a read in another group so I'm going to get that started and then join in with this one in a few days, but already intrigued by the comments!

[Roman Clodia]

I haven't started yet either, hopefully will at the weekend.

[Kathleen]

Glad you'll be reading this too, Alwynne and RC.

You're right' Susan--I'd forgotten about the cartoons! But I agree that Margot's brother's story felt sadly timeless.

[Jan C]

Hopefully, I'll start this one soon, too.

[Susan]

It's hard to get to all the reads. I had hoped to read the Hans Fallada too, but I have stalled after this and Grand Hotel. Oddly, I read this first, thinking - from the blurb - it would be the one I probably liked least and adored it. Love it when books surprise you like that.

[Roman Clodia]

Susan wrote: "Love it when books surprise you like that"

Yes, that! I felt the same way about Grand Hotel which is darker and more emotionally involving than I expected from its reputation.

It made me think about the point made here about evoking time/place: historical novels written later go out of their way to mention things that place them in history, sometimes in a clumsy or intrusive way, whereas books written at or near a historical moment takes their own historicity for granted. Grand Hotel didn't immediately scream 'Weimar' but the period is present in more subtle ways.

[Nigeyb]

Susan wrote:


"I had hoped to read the Hans Fallada too, but I have stalled after this and Grand Hotel"

I think I might be the sole Hans Fallada reader

[Susan]

Oh no, Nigeyb. I was really looking forward to Hans Fallada and do want to read it.

[Nigeyb]

It's fine Susan. No worries. You were never 100%. I'm glad to have read it - which is the main thing.

[Susan]

I loved the only book I have read by him and do want to read more, certainly. I thought Weimar Germany was such a great theme, with such a lot of scope.

[Judy]

I'll be starting it shortly, Nigeyb - I wanted to finish Grand Hotel first, which I've now done.

[Nigeyb]

Hurrah

[Alwynne]

I'm planning to make a dent in this today, now I've got some other things out of the way.

[Alwynne]

I've started and I'm enjoying this so far, I like the dry humour, I'm finding it very funny. Also fascinated by all the references to cinema, from the title onwards. I'm assuming he's partly riffing off "The Blue Angel" which would have been a big hit around the time he was composing this? Which makes me wonder if he's planning to critique or overturn some aspect of that vision of Weimar and elicit desire? Even the description of Albinus's wedding "The chestnuts were in full bloom. A much treasured cigarette case was found..." reads a bit like an outline of scenes from a movie. And his fantasies of the girl on the beach are very adolescent, a bit like a pin-up girl or again the kind of fantasy romance scenario in popular film. Although a touch of Irmgard Keun too in Margot.