Books and Cooks July 1998

Pnin

Our rating: 2.5 cups of tea!

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Discussion date: Monday, July 13, 1998, 5:00PM

Discussion place: Stephanie's

Menu: A picnic outside on the lawn.

At the July meeting we will be discussing Vladimir Nabokov’s Pnin. Weather permitting, we will meet/picnic outside!

Amazon.com’s synopsis: Readers meet one of Nabokov's funniest and most heartrending characters: Timofey Pnin, a professor of Russian at an American college, who lectures in a language he cannot master.

The Cornell library has several copies, as well as a guide to it. Dawn and Lyn both have checked out copies of the guide. Contact them if you’re interested in taking a look before the meeting.

Amanda found the following::

The Constant Reader reading group (just posts past discussions) is at http://www3.mcsdallas.com/cr/index.htm and if you go to "Our Reading Lists" you can read their discussion about Pnin.

The Book Group at http://www.jetcity.com/~kirok/bookgrp.htm is "a carefully selected group of elite literary critics, authors, poets, librarians, scientists, lawyers, historians, linguists, and mathematicians from around the world." They review and rate books and they did one on Pnin (it got five stars out of 5).

I found the following non-useful review: The portable Nabokov, The Viking Press, 1968, ISBN 670-01073-1 Short stories and criticism are cerebral (good). Pnin is cerebral (bad).

Or, more positively, but equally useless: This short novel is probably the most accessible of Nabokov's books, incorporating some of his experiences in an American college. It is sad and funny at the same time, and introduces the reader to some of Vladimir's writer-reader games.

A Nabakov site with tons of bibliographical references for people who like to read criticism, is Zemble, The Nabakov Butterfly Net at http://www.libraries.psu.edu/iasweb/nabokov/nsintro.htm They are announcing that this September is the Cornell Nabakov Centenary Festival, here at Cornell from the 10th to 12th.

Last updated: March 25, 1999.