518. Pnin

Pnin
Vladimir Nabokov
1957
Around 185 pages

The beginning of this novel closely follows the usual plot of my nightmares. Pnin is a Russian professor on his way to a guest lecture, only to discover that he is on the wrong train. When he tries to board a bus, he realizes he doesn't have his papers, and then he has a seizure. If he was suddenly forced to sing karaoke, it would literally be straight from my sleeping brain.

The rest of the story follows our hapless protagonist, who is constantly getting manipulated into spending money on his ex wife. I think we can all relate to Pnin, somebody who has good intentions, but consistently falls flat on his face. At least I can. Nabokov has compassion for Pnin, probably because he had Pnin-like tendencies himself, so we never feel like we are laughing at the main's character expense. We are more shaking our fists at the world for treating our poor Pnin baby this way.

It's very impressive that Nabokov was able to create someone as repulsive as Humbert Humbert and as likable as Pnin. That man had range.

RATING: ****-

Interesting Facts:

Pnin is Nabokov's response to Don Quixote, which he had read a year earlier.

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