1938 was an important year; Nazism was on the rise and Stalin expanded his oppression of intellectuals. Nobokov’s response to such tyranny was swift and sure; he responded with three stories, a
play and a novel, each warning of the danger of leaving tyranny unopposed. Here, independent scholar Caulton (PhD in English, U. of Otago, New Zealand) examines Nabakov’s output in 1938.
Nabakov began 1938 with chapter five of The Gift, followed by ＂Tyrants Destroyed＂, The Waltz Invention, ＂The Visit to the Museum,＂ and ＂Lik.＂ He closed the year writing on The Real Life of
Sebastian Knight. After the detailed chronology, Caulton devotes the rest of the volume to re-reading and decrypting The Real Life of Sebastian Knight. Annotation ©2013 Book News, Inc.,
Portland, OR (booknews.com)
