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Pale Fire

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Pale Fire

By: Vladimir Nabokov
Narrated by: Marc Vietor, Robert Blumenfeld
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About this listen

A 999 line poem in heroic couplets, divided into 4 cantos, was composed - according to Nabokov's fiction - by John Francis Shade, an obsessively methodical man, during the last 20 days of his life.

©1962 Vera Nabokov and Dmitri Nabokov (P)2010 Audible, Inc Absurdist Classics Fiction Genre Fiction Literary Fiction Russia

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Critic reviews

"This centaur-work, half poem, half prose . . . is a creation of perfect beauty, symmetry, strangeness, originality and moral truth. Pretending to be a curio, it cannot disguise the fact that it is one of the great works of art of this century." (Mary McCarthy, The New Republic)

"Of all [Nabokov's] inventions, Pale Fire is the wildest, the funniest and the most earnest. It is like nothing on God's earth." (New York Herald Tribune)

"A monstrous, witty, intricately entertaining work . . . done with dazzling skill." (Time)
All stars
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It is true that this a complex book which can be read many times and requires close attention. This audio version brings out the humour and verbal dexterity of the text and the narration is perfect . Highly recommended , CPR.

A sublime narration

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Nabokov’s novel is clever, rich, intriguing and absorbing. This readers (there are two) are adept and capture so well the novel’s spirit.

Brilliant reading: brilliant novel.

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I have enjoyed and been riveted by this novel and the performances. Will now try more Nabokov.

Masterpiece

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I've been looking forward to reading Pale Fire for many years. This performance gave it every nuanced touch possible. Absolutely amazing narration. For many, this may not be as thrilling as a conventional 'story', but hearing what lies beneath, in the footnotes or editorial notes to the poem Pale Fire (which is a beautiful piece of American Whitmanesque lyricism) is what gives this masterful work its poignancy and humour.

A story in footnotes

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I wasn't sure if this puzzle of a book would work as an audiobook. Very nicely performed. Highly recommended (though be aware of what you're signing up for)

Genius

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maybe buy the book to do justice to nabokov and understand the flow and structure of pale fire.

dnf :(

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I loved Lolita and loved the idea of this novel. I can't claim to have got all the in-jokes and levels of sub-text but I got a fair amount of them. Perhaps reading it and referring to the endnotes as you go might make it better. But I found this only occasionally amusing, the jokes laboured, and the book, ultimately, boring.

It's all very clever but...

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I am sure someone will find this clever. Making the reader suffer an incredibly dull prologue because the unreliable narrator believes they are a great writer probably seems clever, but not so much if you want anyone to read any further. The poem itself was in relative terms a welcome respite. I think this was supposed to be funny. Maybe yo someone more erudite and who live fifty years earlier.

It left me being very grateful I never went the English Literature route in my education.

I think he thought he was very clever writing about someone who thought they were very clever writing about someone who thought they were very clever writing about personal tragedy

I quite liked the aside about someone trying to create anti-matter blowing their leg off.

Hence 2 stars.

The narrator was fine. But I cannot rate him higher because there was scant opportunity for great expression. I mean at least he got through it, so Kudos for that.

Insufferable dullness as a device

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