Sounds (short story)

Last updated

Sounds is a short story by Russian American author Vladimir Nabokov originally written in Russian in September 1923.

Plot summary

In the story, the narrator recounts to an old flame a date they once had, whilst her husband was away, where they visited a friend, Pal Palych, in the country. From the very beginning, it is revealed that the narrator is an aesthetic individual, prone to epiphanies. For him, the world seems "homogonous, congruent, bound by the laws of harmony". [1] Whereas the narrator is prone to communicate his epiphanies in the language of sound, the woman is "habitually untalkative". [2] When the narrator must venture back to Palych's house to retrieve his date's cigarette-holder, he finds his friend bleary eyed and suggests that he get outside more. Towards the end, the woman tells the narrator that she'd leave her husband to be with him. The reader by now already suspects that something is up, as the narrator has revealed that he loves not only her, but the entire world: "it was not you alone who were my lover but the entire earth". [3] In the end, the narrator rides his bicycle home, stopping along the way to sit on a park bench where he notices a woman he plans to talk to, as well as seeing Palych fishing.

Related Research Articles

Vladimir Nabokov Russian-American novelist, lepidopterist, professor

Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov, also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin, was a Russian-American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Born in Russia, he wrote his first nine novels in Russian (1926–1938) while living in Berlin. He achieved international acclaim and prominence after moving to the United States and beginning to write in English. Nabokov became an American citizen in 1945, but he and his wife returned to Europe in 1961, settling in Montreux, Switzerland.

<i>Pnin</i>

Pnin is Vladimir Nabokov's 13th novel and his fourth written in English; it was published in 1957. The success of Pnin in the United States launched Nabokov's career into literary prominence. Its eponymous protagonist, Timofey Pavlovich Pnin, is a Russian-born assistant professor in his 50s living in the United States, whose character is believed to be based partially on the life of both Nabokov's colleague Marc Szeftel as well as on Nabokov himself. Exiled by the Russian Revolution and what he calls the "Hitler war", Pnin teaches Russian at the fictional Waindell College, loosely inspired by Cornell University and Wellesley College—places where Nabokov himself taught.

"The Vane Sisters" is a short story by Vladimir Nabokov, written in March 1951. It is famous for providing one of the most extreme examples of an unreliable narrator. It was first published in the Winter 1958 issue of The Hudson Review and then reprinted in Encounter during 1959. The story was included in Nabokov's Quartet (1966), Nabokov's Congeries, Tyrants Destroyed and Other Stories (1975), and The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov (1995).

<i>Despair</i> (novel)

Despair is the seventh novel by Vladimir Nabokov, originally published in Russian, serially in the politicized literary journal Sovremennye zapiski during 1934. It was then published as a book in 1936, and translated to English by the author in 1937. Most copies of the 1937 English edition were destroyed by German bombs during World War II; only a few copies remain. Nabokov published a second English translation in 1965; this is now the only English translation in print.

<i>Mary</i> (Nabokov novel)

Mary, is the debut novel by Vladimir Nabokov, first published under pen name V. Sirin in 1926 by Russian-language publisher "Slovo".

<i>Invitation to a Beheading</i>

Invitation to a Beheading is a novel by Russian American author Vladimir Nabokov. It was originally published in Russian from 1935 to 1936 as a serial in Sovremennye zapiski, a Russian émigré magazine. In 1938, the work was published in Paris, with an English translation following in 1959. The novel was translated into English by Nabokov's son, Dmitri Nabokov, under the author's supervision.

<i>The Real Life of Sebastian Knight</i>

The Real Life of Sebastian Knight is the first English language novel by Vladimir Nabokov, written from late 1938 to early 1939 in Paris and first published in 1941. A work centred on language and its inability to convey any satisfactory definition, it has been identified as a forerunner of the postmodernist novel.

<i>The Eye</i> (novel)

The Eye, written in 1930, is Vladimir Nabokov's fourth novel. It was translated into English by the author's son Dmitri Nabokov in 1965.

<i>King, Queen, Knave</i>

King, Queen, Knave was the second novel written by Vladimir Nabokov while living in Berlin and sojourning at resorts in the Baltic. Written in the years 1927-8, it was published as Король, дама, валет in Russian in October 1928 and then translated into German by de:Siegfried von Vegesack as König, Dame, Bube: ein Spiel mit dem Schicksal. Forty years later the novel was translated into English by Nabokov's son Dmitri, with significant changes made by the author. A film adaptation only loosely based on the novel followed in 1972.

Véra Nabokov

Véra Nabokov was the wife, editor, and translator of Russian writer Vladimir Nabokov, and a source of inspiration for many of his works.

"Spring 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. Spring in Fialta is included in Nine Stories and Nabokov's Dozen.

"Bachmann" is a short story written in Russian by Vladimir Nabokov under his nom-de-plume V. Sirin in Berlin in 1924. It was first published in Rul, a Russian émigré paper founded by his father, Vladimir Dmitrievich Nabokov, and later included in a number of short story collections: Vozvrashchenie Chorba, Tyrants Destroyed and Other Stories (1975), and The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov (1995). He and his son, Dmitri Nabokov, provided the English translation.

"The Leonardo" is a short story written in Russian by Vladimir Nabokov in Berlin in the summer of 1933. It was first published as Korolyyok in Posledniye Novosti in Paris the same year, and in 1956 as part of the collection Vesna v Fialte. After its translation into English by the author and his son Dmitri Nabokov it was incorporated into the collection A Russian Beauty and Other Stories and published in 1971.

<i>Lolita</i> 1955 novel by Vladimir Nabokov

Lolita is a 1955 novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. The novel is notable for its controversial subject: the protagonist and unreliable narrator, a middle-aged literature professor under the pseudonym Humbert Humbert, is obsessed with a 12-year-old girl, Dolores Haze, with whom he becomes sexually involved after he becomes her stepfather. "Lolita" is his private nickname for Dolores. The novel was originally written in English and first published in Paris in 1955 by Olympia Press. Later it was translated into Russian by Nabokov himself and published in New York City in 1967 by Phaedra Publishers.

Details of a Sunset is a short story by Vladimir Nabokov written in Russian under his pen name Vladimir Sirin in Berlin in 1924.

The Wood-Sprite is a story by Vladimir Nabokov, originally published in Russian in 1921. It was his first published story.

"Music" is a short story by Russian American author Vladimir Nabokov originally published in Russian in 1932.

Orache is a short story by Russian American author Vladimir Nabokov originally published in Russian in 1932.

The Passenger is a short story by Russian American author Vladimir Nabokov originally published in Russian in 1927.

"That in Aleppo Once..." is a short story written by Russian-born author Vladimir Nabokov (1899-1977). First published in Atlantic Monthly in 1943, the story takes epistolary form, with an unnamed narrator describing his recollections of himself and his wife's deteriorating relationship while fleeing German occupation during Case Anton. The narrator reveals to his correspondent the likelihood his wife was not real, examining this premise during the account of events.

References

  1. Nabokov, Vladimir (2008). The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov. Vintage Books. p. 14.
  2. Nabokov, Vladimir (2008). The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov. Vintage Books. p. 15.
  3. Nabokov, Vladimir (2008). The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov. Vintage Books. p. 15.