The Gift (Nabokov book)
Encyclopedia
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 pseudo-biography of the Russian writer Nikolai Chernyshevski, was censored from publication in the Russian émigré journal that published the book's four other chapters.
The story's apparent protagonist is Fyodor Godunov-Cherdyntsev, a Russian writer living in Berlin after his family fled the Bolshevik Revolution. Fyodor's literary ambitions and his development as a writer shape the book. In the fifth and final chapter, Fyodor states his ambition to write a book that in description is very similar to The Gift. In an interview to BBC-2, Nabokov cited Fyodor as an example that not all the lives of his characters are grotesque or tragic; he said that Fyodor "is blessed with a faithful love and an early recognition of his genius."
It is possible to interpret the book as metafiction
, and imagine that the book was actually written by Fyodor later in his life, though this is not the only possible interpretation.
Nabokov's son, Dmitri
, translated the book's first chapter into English
; Michael Scammell
completed the rest. Nabokov then revised the translations of all five chapters in 1961.
Fyodor “dawled away the summer”. In the fall he attends a literary meeting of Russian émigrés where he meets Koncheyev whom he considers a rival. A reading of a new play bores the audience. Upon leaving Fyodor has a lengthy and animated discussion about Russian literature with Koncheyev, a discussion that turns out to be largely
fictitious.
within the novel, a book within a book
, about the Russian 19th century writer Chernyshevsky - Lenin's favorite author -titled The Life of Chernyshevski written by the protagonist. Fyodor ridicules Chernyshevsky's aesthetics and understanding of literature.
Shchyogolev is offered a job in Copenhagen, and plans to leave Zina in the Berlin apartment. Fyodor is elated and takes a walk in the Grunewald forest, where he imagines to have a talk with Koncheyev. His clothes including the key to the apartment get stolen, and he has to return in his bathing trunks. At night he dreams that his father has come back. Next morning the Shchyogolevs leave for Copenhagen, and Zina stays behind. Fyodor who is planning to write a "classical novel" (The Gift) and Zina can now live together. They are without money, both at the moment have lost the key to their apartment, but they are happy, they feel that fate brought them together, and Zina declares that he will be “a writer as has never been before“.
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Another angle is provided by Boyd who suggests that The Gift depicts Fyodor's father's life as a thesis "not quite yet earned", the life of Chernishevsky - a life of frustration - its Hegelian antithesis, and Fyodor's life as it plays out the synthesis: Fyodor realizes that his past frustrations are part of a larger design to link him to Zina and to develop his art.
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...
'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
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
, and it was published in serial form under his nom de plume, Vladimir Sirin.
The Gift's fourth chapter, a pseudo-biography of the Russian writer Nikolai Chernyshevski, was censored from publication in the Russian émigré journal that published the book's four other chapters.
The story's apparent protagonist is Fyodor Godunov-Cherdyntsev, a Russian writer living in Berlin after his family fled the Bolshevik Revolution. Fyodor's literary ambitions and his development as a writer shape the book. In the fifth and final chapter, Fyodor states his ambition to write a book that in description is very similar to The Gift. In an interview to BBC-2, Nabokov cited Fyodor as an example that not all the lives of his characters are grotesque or tragic; he said that Fyodor "is blessed with a faithful love and an early recognition of his genius."
It is possible to interpret the book as metafiction
Metafiction
Metafiction, also known as Romantic irony in the context of Romantic works of literature, is a type of fiction that self-consciously addresses the devices of fiction, exposing the fictional illusion...
, and imagine that the book was actually written by Fyodor later in his life, though this is not the only possible interpretation.
Nabokov's son, Dmitri
Dmitri Nabokov
Dmitri Vladimirovich Nabokov is an American opera singer and translator. He is the only child of writer Vladimir Nabokov and his wife Vera Nabokov, and is currently executor of his father's literary estate.-Background:...
, translated the book's first chapter into English
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
; Michael Scammell
Michael Scammell
Michael Scammell is an English author, biographer and translator of Slavic literature.-Life:He was educated at the University of Nottingham, and obtained a doctorate at Columbia University where he is currently a professor of writing....
completed the rest. Nabokov then revised the translations of all five chapters in 1961.
Chapter One
Fyodor Konstantinovitch Cherdyntsev is a Russian émigré living in Berlin in the 1920s, and the chapter starts with him moving to a boardinghouse on Seven Tannenberg Street. He has recently published a book of poems, and receives a call from Alexander Yakovlevich Chernyshevski congratulating him on the poems and inviting him to come over to a party to read the favorable critique in the newspaper. The poems reach back to Feodor’s childhood that was spent with his sister Tanya in the pre-revolutionary St. Petersburg and the Leshino manor, the country estate of the Godunov-Cherdyntsevs. Fyodor arrives at the party only to learn that he fell victim to a crude April fool’s joke; his book had not received any attention in the literary circle. The Chernyshevskis had a son, Yasha, who "looked like Fyodor" who had loved poetry. Yasha died by suicide when caught in a tragic love triangle. His mother wanted Fyodor to use his story for his writing, but he declined. As a result of Yasha’s death, his father had episodes of insanity. When Fyodor returns to his “new hole” he notices that he had taken the wrong keys, fortunately, after a while a visitor is leaving and he can get back in.Fyodor “dawled away the summer”. In the fall he attends a literary meeting of Russian émigrés where he meets Koncheyev whom he considers a rival. A reading of a new play bores the audience. Upon leaving Fyodor has a lengthy and animated discussion about Russian literature with Koncheyev, a discussion that turns out to be largely
fictitious.
Chapter Two
Fyodor is dreaming about his native Russia as he rides in the tramcar to his language student, but “could not stand it no longer “and returns to his place. His mother, Elizaveta Pavlovna, comes from Paris to visit him and the shadow of his lost father hangs over their encounter, his mother believing that he is still alive. Before her departure they attend a local Russian literary event, and Fyodor is the last almost unnoticed reader to recite one of his poems. Inspired by her visit and his study of Pushkin he seeks her support for his new project, a book about his father Konstantin Kirillovich. He collects material, stumbles over Sushoshchokov’s account of his grand father, Kirill Ilyich (a gambler who made and lost a fortune in America before returning to Russia), and starts to focus on the activities of his father, an explorer, lepidopterist, and scientific writer whose journeys between 1885 and 1918 led him to Siberia and Central Asia. Fyodor who only had come along on local trips and is imbued with the love of butterflies, imagines being a participant on his explorations to the East. In 1916 his father departed for his last journey and remains missing. Fyodor’s difficulty to proceed with his project gets complicated by the need to look for a new lodging. With the help of Mrs. Chernyshevski he finds a place with the Shchyogolevs. As it turns out later, the presence of a short pale blue dress in the adjacent room that he thinks belongs to their daughter makes him take the apartment.Chapter Three
This chapters starts by describing a day in the life of the protagonist. In the morning Fyodor hears the Shchyogolevs get up and begins the day with thinking about poetry. He reflects on his development as a poet. Later he joins the family for lunch, Shchyogolev is talking about politics, his wife, Marianna Nikolavna, cooks, and the daughter behaves in an antagonistic way. Fyodor then gives his tutorial lessons, goes to a bookstore where among others he finds Koncheyev’s book of poems Communication and reviews that failed to understand it. He reads an article about Chernyshevski and Chess in the Soviet chess magazine 8x8, and visits his editor Vasiliev. After returning home and having supper in his room, Fyodor leaves the place to meet secretly Zina. Waiting for her he composes a poem embedded in the narrative. Zina Mertz has appeared in the narrative before on occasion,,- she had bought one of the few copies of Fyodor’s poems, and she is the daughter of Marianna Nikolavna, and Shchyogolev’s stepdaughter, living next door to the protagonist). The story of their encounters is recalled and it is learned that Zina knew of Fyodor the poet when he lived at his previous place. Their meetings are in secret and hidden from her parents. Shchyogolev implies that he may have married her mother to get to her which may explain the strain between him and Zina and why she hates him. Zina works for a law firm, Traum, Baum, and Kaesebier. Fyodor gets more involved with Chernyshevski’s work and declares that he wants to write about him for “firing practice”. He reads all by and about him, and passes from “accumulation to creation”. Zina is his muse and reader. The finished manuscript is handed to his publisher who rejects it as a “reckless, antisocial, mischievous improvisation.” However, Fyodor has more luck with another publisher.Chapter Four
This chapter is a critical biographyBiography
A biography is a detailed description or account of someone's life. More than a list of basic facts , biography also portrays the subject's experience of those events...
within the novel, a book within a book
Story within a story
A story within a story, also rendered story-within-a-story, is a literary device in which one narrative is presented during the action of another narrative. Mise en abyme is the French term for a similar literary device...
, about the Russian 19th century writer Chernyshevsky - Lenin's favorite author -titled The Life of Chernyshevski written by the protagonist. Fyodor ridicules Chernyshevsky's aesthetics and understanding of literature.
Chapter Five
The book about Chernyshevski finds itself in a “good, thundery atmosphere of scandal which helped sales”. Most reviews in the literary world of the émigrés are critical as the book debunks its subject as a writer and thinker, Koncheyev ’s review, however, is quite positive. Fyodor is unable to show the book to Alexander Yakovlevich Chernyshevski who had recently died. His death and funeral are described. On his way home, Fyodor walks with the writer Shirin, “a deaf and blind man with blocked nostrils”. Shirin tries to engage Fyodor in the activities of the Committee of the Society of Russian Writers in Germany. Fyodor declines but attends some meetings observing the infighting for control of the society.Shchyogolev is offered a job in Copenhagen, and plans to leave Zina in the Berlin apartment. Fyodor is elated and takes a walk in the Grunewald forest, where he imagines to have a talk with Koncheyev. His clothes including the key to the apartment get stolen, and he has to return in his bathing trunks. At night he dreams that his father has come back. Next morning the Shchyogolevs leave for Copenhagen, and Zina stays behind. Fyodor who is planning to write a "classical novel" (The Gift) and Zina can now live together. They are without money, both at the moment have lost the key to their apartment, but they are happy, they feel that fate brought them together, and Zina declares that he will be “a writer as has never been before“.
Foreword 1962
The Gift is the last novel written by Nabokov in his native language. In the 1962 foreword he indicates that it was written 1935-37 in Berlin and the last chapter completed on the French Riviera in 1937. The novel was first published serially in the Parisian émigré magazine Sovremennye Zapiski; however Chapter Four was rejected: ”a pretty example of life finding itself obliged to imitate the very art it condemns.” The complete novel was not published until 1952. Despite the many parallels Nabokov tells the reader not to confuse “the designer with the design” insisting he is not Fyodor, his father not an explorer of Asia, and he “never wooed Zina Mertz“. Fyodor’s disdain for Germany may have been influenced by the “nauseous dictatorship” Nabokov experienced when writing. The novel evokes the close-knit and short-lived world of Russian émigré writers in post WWI Europe, notably Berlin, a “phantasm” when Nabokov wrote his foreword where he indicates(The Gift's) heroine is not Zina, but Russian literatureRussian literatureRussian literature refers to the literature of Russia or its émigrés, and to the Russian-language literature of several independent nations once a part of what was historically Russia or the Soviet Union...
. The plot of Chapter One centres in Fyodor's poems. Chapter Two is a surge toward Pushkin in Fyodor's literary progress and contains his attempt to describe his father's zoological explorations. Chapter Three shifts to Gogol, but its real hub is the love poem dedicated to Zina. Fyodor's book on Chernyshevski, a spiral within a sonnet, takes care of Chapter Four. The last chapter combines all the preceding themes and adumbrates the book Fyodor dreams of writing someday: The Gift.
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- — Vladimir Nabokov, from the Foreword
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Father's Butterflies
Nabokov's Father's Butterflies is viewed as a later written afterword to The Gift. It was translated by his son and published posthumously, incorporated as a chapter into Nabokov's ButterfliesNabokov's Butterflies
Nabokov’s Butterflies is a book edited and annotated by Brian Boyd and Robert Michael Pyle that examines and presents Vladimir Nabokov’s passion for butterflies in his literary presentation....
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Comments
The Gift is considered "the most original, unusual and interesting piece of prose writing" of Russian emigre writing (Simon Karlinsky), and the most "difficult" of Nabokov's Russian novels. Initially the complex novel was not successfully received; it was either ignored or criticized as an incendiary attack on Russian literature. Earlier critics viewed it as a novel describing the development of an artist. Dolinin, instead, sees it as " “a kind of declaration of love”—love of the creator for his creature, and of the creature for its creator, love of a son for his father, love an exile for his native land, love for language and those who love it, love for the beauty of the world, and, last but not least, love for its readers." Johnson maintains that the theme of The Gift is the gift of art that is played out, like a chess game, along two plot lines, Fyodor's artistic development and his relationship to Zina. The role of keys in the novel acts as a leitmotif. Many other motifs are present including time, reality, nature, love, parents, Russia, literature, art, death, light, colors, dreams, travel, and exile. The novel contains embedded literature such as poems, and the paradox of a "real" biography by an "unreal" writer. The narration weaves between first and third person, time between now and past, and dreams have the quality of reality. The novel is written in a circular fashion, like a Moebius strip (Dolinin), at its end the narrator/protagonist decides to write the novel the reader is reading. Ben-Amos analyzed the role of literature in the novel stating that it is "a central component, rather than a reflection, of reality”, consistend with Fyodor being both narrator and protagonist, also the love of Zina and Fyodor is inter-related to literature and unthinkable without it. Similarly, Paperno indicates that literature and reality interact on equal footing and are interchangeable.Another angle is provided by Boyd who suggests that The Gift depicts Fyodor's father's life as a thesis "not quite yet earned", the life of Chernishevsky - a life of frustration - its Hegelian antithesis, and Fyodor's life as it plays out the synthesis: Fyodor realizes that his past frustrations are part of a larger design to link him to Zina and to develop his art.