'Pnin' by Vladimir Nabokov is a collection of self-contained short stories centered around the character Pnin, a hapless Russian emigrant teaching at an American university. The novel explores themes of exile, university life, and complex relationships, portraying Pnin as an endearing but eccentric character. Nabokov's prose is described as acrobatic and beautiful, with a focus on wordplay and clever observations.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings include themes of loss and trauma related to war and the Holocaust.
Has Romance?
There is a medium level of romance in Pnin, particularly through Pnin's reflections on lost love.
From The Publisher:
Pnin is a professor of Russian at an American college who takes the wrong train to deliver a lecture in a language he cannot master. Pnin is a tireless lover who writes to his treacherous Liza: "A genius needs to keep so much in store, and thus cannot offer you the whole of himself as I do." Pnin is the focal point of subtle academic conspiracies he cannot begin to comprehend, yet he stages a faculty party to end all faculty parties forever.
Ratings (6)
Incredible (2) | |
Loved It (1) | |
Liked It (1) | |
It Was OK (2) |
Reader Stats (19):
Read It (7) | |
Want To Read (10) | |
Not Interested (2) |
What can you read after
Pnin?
About the Author:
Vladimir Nabokov studied French and Russian literature at Trinity College, Cambridge, then lived in Berlin and Paris, writing prolifically in Russian under the pseudonym Sirin. In 1940, he left France for America, where he wrote some of his greatest works-Bend Sinister (1947), Lolita (1955), Pnin (1957),…
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