As a later work of Nabokov, this 100 or so pager felt more like a test of comprehension...oh how awful. The story itself is actually pretty good, but Nabokov was obviously flexing his dexterity as an established writer at that... I guess the awful part about it is the after effect of how I will honestly admit that the I didn't understand the damn meaning of it all. It starts off somewhat comic, Hugh Person (pronounced Parson) is checking into a hotel in Switzerland where he is to meet with the author R. and go about editing his new novel. Hugh is sort of a clumsy character with a livelihood that is far from exceptional, but he goes through the typical motions of self-consciousness from his father's tendencies and falling in love with Armande, a woman who all of a sudden gives him her hand in marriage, which seems to originate from nothing more than pittance or a sudden knock in the head. In an abrupt and somewhat non-sequential line of events, his life gradually turns mad as he murders his wife, retraces his past, and becomes insane. It's hard to imagine how two decades and four different trips are supposed to fit in this slim thing, but Nabokov does do it seamlessly... chapter by chapter it flies, but at the same time it takes awhile to realize what hit. I still don't know what it all means...I also don't think it really matters.So despite some hardships- life altering moments - character enhancers in 2011, looking back I did have a pretty decent love affair with some stories and managed to gain a ton of favorites. As of the moment, I'm still dedicating my next few reads to the classics... way overdue. My acclaimed list of favorite books read in 2011:
Collected Stories of Richard Yates
Laughter in the Dark - V. Nabokov
On a Winter's Night a Traveler - I. Calvino
The Post-Man Always Rings Twice - J. Cain
Into the Looking Glass Wood - A. Manguel
Invention of Morel - Bioy Casares
The Invention of Hugo Cabret - B. Selznick
Runner-ups:
Austerlitz - W. B. Sebald
Catch-22 - Heller
Just Kids - P. Smith
Story of the Eye - G. Bataille
Revolutionary Road - Yates
Clergyman's Daughter - G. Orwell
Full Tilt - D. Murphy
America is in the Heart - C. Bulosan
Cheers.
