Literary Lectures

Lectures on Literature

★ Seven Lessons on European Fiction from Top Novelist Vladimir Nabokov★ Austen, Dickens, Flaubert, Stevenson, Proust, Kafka, Joyce★ Writers interpret writers, genius analyzes genius, classics make classics. Vladimir Nabokov is widely recognized as the preeminent novelist and stylist of the 20th century. After moving to the United States in the 1940s, Nabokov taught European literature at Wellesley College and Cornell University. Lectures on Literature is a compilation of his meticulously prepared lecture notes and lectures, featuring detailed analysis of seven works: Austen's Mansfield Park, Dickens' Bleak House, Flaubert's Madame Bovary, Stevenson's The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, Proust's In Search of Lost Time (Volume 1), Kafka's The Metamorphosis, and Joyce's Ulysses. At that time, the New Criticism theory was popular in the Western literary criticism circle. Nabokov's emphasis on text analysis (sometimes to the point of almost telling it word for word), unique artistic views and critical methods, rich language and literary cultivation, and the logic and rigorous style trained in entomological research made "Lectures on Literature" a model work for the specific study of writers and literary works using the New Criticism theory.
In this book, Nabokov discusses seven literary masterpieces including "Mansfield Park" and "Madame Bovary", which is equivalent to leading students to conduct seven artistic investigations and dissections. He expresses his views on the works very vividly in concise and clear language and in an easy-to-understand way. At the same time, starting from the text rather than the concept, he carefully captures the artistic characteristics and points out the reasons for the artistic success of the works.
Another characteristic of Lectures on Literature is its extensive use of original texts. This preserves the book's original nature as a lecture series while also providing a detailed account of how the author's insights were formed. This, in turn, contributes to the book's appeal: through Nabokov's exposition, he reveals passages in the works that previously lacked depth and value, revealing them to the reader like pearls emerging from their oysters.
★ The power of imagination has rarely found a more vibrant voice. —John Updike★ A true magician. —Paul Bailey★ What an honor it is that he chose to use our language and make it new. —Anthony Burgess★ Nabokov's sensibility is unmatched among modern novelists in its power, richness, and variety...If words can evoke the purest sensory pleasure, nothing else can do it.
- Martin Amis ★ He has mastered all the techniques of novel writing and has invented new ones of his own. - Peter Ackroyd ★ The most original and creative writer of our time. - Financial Times
★ Nabokov's talent lies not only in his ability to transform any subject into a clear visual image, but also in his almost unbridled sense of humor, which allows him to make any tragedy appear absurd. - The Observer
★ Vivid memories linger in the story, and facing the malicious mockery of fate, one either plays with it or fights against it... A glimmer of redemption flickers in Nabokov's dark and turbulent story. - Newsday

2024-04-01

上海译文出版社

568

9787532795253