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V
vera: mrs. vladimir nabokov
stacy schiff
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This was a book about the wife of Vladimir Nabokov. It was
on the clearance rack for $4 at Barnes and Noble. I had a $25
gift certificate. It's OK. I want to read some Nabokov now,
but I feel that the book just sort of says the same - hyper-
referenced thing for 400 odd pages: Vera Nabokov was a
woman powerful and immeasurable in her husband's life.
The writer also employs that annoying technique of looping
back like telling you that Vera had a blue dog (just an
example) and then describing it and then two pages later
saying that Vera had a blue dog. The one interesting aspect
of this book was the pre-war Eastern Europe days. This is
my second accidental glimpse at that time period. I get the
impression that it was a way more advanced period and that
the war made us all go back to family values and
assimilation. I will investigate further. Not that Eastern
Europe seems to be advanced advanced. It just seems that
writing and art fluorished and decadence was rapidly
occurring. Sort of where we are now. It's sort of like we've
looped around. |
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reviewed by: kristen |
March 2001 [link] |
recommend
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vernon god little
dbc pierre
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| I picked up this Booker Prize winner somewhat reluctantly after reading reviews that enjoyed the assiness of the author, "Dirty But Clean Pierre". The book is a kind-of diary of a Texas youth who sees his young, gay, best friend kill a number of people in his high school after a particularly embarrassing Chemistry class. He's accused of being an accessory to the murder and, after several failed attempts, flees to Mexico. The book captures the despondancy of youth and the influence that the media can have on crimes that happen in small towns. It gets creepy when people start voting for who goes next on Death Row. I don't think it should've gotten the Booker but it was an engaging read. Doesn't make Pierre any less of a wanker, though. |
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reviewed by: Eve |
July 2004 [link] |
recommend 9 thumbs up
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