Nabokov's Congeries
Encyclopedia
Nabokov's Congeries was a collection of work by Vladimir Nabokov
published in 1968 and reprinted in 1971 as The Portable Nabokov. Because Nabokov supervised its production less than a decade before he died, it is useful in attempting to identify which works Nabokov considered to be his best, especially among his short stories.
The Artist Himself
Eleven Stories
Essays and Criticism
A Novel and Three Excerpts
Poems
(1995), in which the story appears with its final paragraphs restored.
Vladimir Nabokov
Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov was a multilingual Russian novelist and short story writer. Nabokov wrote his first nine novels in Russian, then rose to international prominence as a master English prose stylist...
published in 1968 and reprinted in 1971 as The Portable Nabokov. Because Nabokov supervised its production less than a decade before he died, it is useful in attempting to identify which works Nabokov considered to be his best, especially among his short stories.
Contents
- Editor's Introduction by Page StegnerPage StegnerPage Stegner is a novelist, essayist, and historian who has written extensively about the American West. He is the son of novelist Wallace Stegner.-Career:...
- A Bibliographical Note
- Vladimir Nabokov: A Chronology
The Artist Himself
- From Speak, MemorySpeak, MemorySpeak, Memory is an autobiographical memoir by writer Vladimir Nabokov.-Scope:The book is dedicated to his wife, Véra, and covers his life from 1903 until his emigration to America in 1940. The first twelve chapters describe Nabokov's remembrance of his youth in an aristocratic family living in...
: An Autobiography Revisited
Eleven Stories
- "Terra Incognita (short story)Terra Incognita (short story)"Terra Incognita" is a short story written in Russian by Vladimir Nabokov that was first published in the émigré journal Posledniya Novosti in Paris in 1931...
" - "Cloud, Castle, LakeCloud, Castle, LakeCloud, Castle, Lake is a short story anthology by Vladimir Nabokov. It features five stories: "The Admiralty Spire," "Razor," "A Russian Beauty," "Cloud, Castle, Lake," and "Signs and Symbols."...
" (Облако, озеро, башня) - "The Visit to the Museum" (Посещение музея)
- "Spring in FialtaSpring in FialtaSpring in Fialta is a short story written by Vladimir Nabokov in 1936, originally as Весна в Фиальте in Russian, during his exile in Berlin. The English translation was performed by Nabokov and Peter Pertzov...
" (Весна в Фиальте) - "That in Aleppo Once..."
- "The Assistant Producer"
- "Signs and SymbolsSigns and Symbols"Signs and Symbols" is a short story by Vladimir Nabokov, written in English and first published, May 15, 1948 in The New Yorker and then in Nabokov's Dozen ....
" - "First Love"
- "Lance"
- "The Vane SistersThe Vane Sisters"The Vane Sisters" is the penultimate short story by Vladimir Nabokov, written in March 1951. It is famous for providing one of the most extreme examples of an unreliable narrator...
" - "Scenes from the Life of a Double Monster"
Essays and Criticism
- On a Book Entitled LolitaLolitaLolita is a novel by Vladimir Nabokov, first written in English and published in 1955 in Paris and 1958 in New York, and later translated by the author into Russian...
- Introduction to Bend Sinister
- Foreword to Mihail Lermontov's A Hero of Our TimeA Hero of Our TimeA Hero of Our Time is a novel by Mikhail Lermontov, written in 1839 and revised in 1841. It is an example of the superfluous man novel, noted for its compelling Byronic hero Pechorin and for the beautiful descriptions of the Caucasus...
- From Nikolai GogolNikolai GogolNikolai Vasilievich Gogol was a Ukrainian-born Russian dramatist and novelist.Considered by his contemporaries one of the preeminent figures of the natural school of Russian literary realism, later critics have found in Gogol's work a fundamentally romantic sensibility, with strains of Surrealism...
: The Government Specter - From the Commentary to Eugene OneginEugene OneginEugene Onegin is a novel in verse written by Alexander Pushkin.It is a classic of Russian literature, and its eponymous protagonist has served as the model for a number of Russian literary heroes . It was published in serial form between 1825 and 1832...
: On Romanticism; The Art of the Duel - From Eugene OneginEugene OneginEugene Onegin is a novel in verse written by Alexander Pushkin.It is a classic of Russian literature, and its eponymous protagonist has served as the model for a number of Russian literary heroes . It was published in serial form between 1825 and 1832...
: A Sample Translation from Chapter One, Stanzas I-VIII - Reply to My Critics
A Novel and Three Excerpts
- PninPninPnin is Vladimir Nabokov's 13th novel and his fourth written in English; it was published in 1957.-Plot summary:The book's eponymous protagonist, Timofey Pavlovich Pnin, is a Russian-born professor living in the United States...
complete - From DespairDespair (novel)Despair was written by Vladimir Nabokov and originally published as a serial in Sovremennye Zapiski during 1934. It was then published as a book in 1936 and later translated to English by the author in 1937. Most copies of the 1937 English translation of the book were destroyed by German bombs,...
- From Invitation to a BeheadingInvitation to a BeheadingInvitation to a Beheading is a novel by Russian American author Vladimir Nabokov. It was originally published in Russian in 1935-1936 as a serial in Contemporary Notes , a highly respected Russian émigré magazine...
- From The GiftThe Gift (Nabokov book)The Gift is Vladimir Nabokov's final Russian novel, and is considered to be his farewell to the world he was leaving behind. Nabokov wrote it between 1935 and 1937 while living in Berlin, and it was published in serial form under his nom de plume, Vladimir Sirin.The Gift's fourth chapter, a...
Poems
- The Refrigerator Awakes
- A Literary Dinner
- A Discovery
- An Evening of Russian Poetry
- Restoration
- Lines Written in Oregon
- Ode to a Model
- On Translating Eugene OneginEugene OneginEugene Onegin is a novel in verse written by Alexander Pushkin.It is a classic of Russian literature, and its eponymous protagonist has served as the model for a number of Russian literary heroes . It was published in serial form between 1825 and 1832...
- Rain
- The Ballad of Longwood Glen
A Textual Note
The text of "The Assistant Producer" contained in Nabokov's Congeries omits the story's final two paragraphs, which had apparently been inadvertently dropped from all English-language editions of the story subsequent to the first. This was explained by the author's son in his introduction to the posthumously published collection The Stories of Vladimir NabokovThe Stories of Vladimir Nabokov
The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov is a posthumous collection of every known short story that Vladimir Nabokov ever wrote, with the exception of "The Enchanter"...
(1995), in which the story appears with its final paragraphs restored.