Timofey Pnin

750 Words2 Pages
bulb-icon

Recommended: Nabokovs essays

Student: Nicolas Berkopec Book: Pnin Author: Vladimir Nabokov Published: 1953 Genre: Fiction Biography/TragComedy The book Pnin is the tragic but comical story of Timofey Pnins life since coming to America and beginning his teaching career at Waindell University. This book is a slice of Timofey Pnins life narrated by Vladimir Nabokov himself. Unlike most books Pnin is not inspiring, amazing, or wonderful it is just silly, this makes Pnin an outlier in literature and makes the book both boring and interesting a quality so odd that it makes this book a great piece of literature. Unlike most biographies Pnin is written as a collection of stories each detailing a chapter in Timofeys life that can each be considered a whole piece of writing …show more content…

Timofey is a Russian immigrant/refugee coming from Leninized Russia and "Hitlers war" coming from such a different place leaves poor Timofey with quite the social problem when he moves to America. During the progression of the book someone known only as the narrator throughout most of the story seems to be playing god with Timofeys life it is later revealed that the narrator is Nabokov who is constantly causing problems in Timofeys life. But even though "God" is plaguing Timofey with problems, he soldiers on and is always able to bring himself upright …show more content…

Most A list books are inspiring stories like The Scarlet Letter which tells the story of an unjustly persecuted woman, this story has enchanted and inspired readers for almost two hundred years. Other A list books are fantastic and filled with wonder like Kidnapped, a classic coming of age story that tells of the adventures of a young man in old England. These are the books that most consider A list, and Pnin, has none of these characteristics. Though it is neither inspiring or fantastic it is unique, and a magnificent example of great writing. Though it does not meet all the A list expectations, it creates a whole new class of writing and thus must be considered an A list

Show More
Related

  • Truth about Sammy in John Updike's A&P

    1092 Words  | 3 Pages

    Updike, John. "A & P." The Bedford Introduction to Literature. 2nd Edition. Ed. Michael Meyer. Boston: St. Martin's Press, 1990. 407-411.

    Read More

  • The Role Of The Gogolian Narrator

    526 Words  | 2 Pages

    In “Nevsky Prospect,” the third person narrator pulls double duty by describing two stories that parallel each other in time. After describing the seemingly harmless bustling avenue, mustaches, and clothing of Nevsky Prospect, the narrator happens to come upon two different characters: an artist and an officer. First, he follows the artist and right away, the narrator seems to be absorbed in the world of the artist. We see this occur when it is often hard to tell when the artist is dreaming or awake. The narrat...

    Read More

  • John Updike’s A & P, Richard Wright’s The Man Who Was Almost a Man, and James Joyce’s Araby

    1298 Words  | 3 Pages

    Updike, John. “A&P”. The Norton Anthology of Short Fiction. Eds. R.V. Cassill and Richard Bausch. Shorter Sixth Edition. New York: W.W. Norton and Company, 2000. 864 - 869.

    Read More

  • Importance Of Neutrality In My Brother Sam Is Dead

    890 Words  | 2 Pages

    The cruel and unnecessary death of Tim’s best friend, Jerry, had a major impact on his choice of neutrality. Losing anybody in your life can make a drastic impact on a person’s life but it was the way Jerry had died that really made Tim think about his choice. Jerry had been taken by the

    Read More

  • Identity in Shirley Jackson’s The Lottery and Isaac Babel’s My First Goose

    1747 Words  | 4 Pages

    ...looked at as he is the literate outsider who knows how to write and read , yet this presupposed privilege later on makes Liutov as minor instead of being superior . During the story , Liutov gives up gradually his academic superiority and in other words gives up his ‘individual’ identity in order to be part of this solidarity and collectivism that shape the Cossacks society.

    Read More

  • Ivan Fyodorovich Sponka and His Aunt

    1414 Words  | 3 Pages

    The short story, “Ivan Fyodorovich Shponka and His Aunt”, explicates the life of a man named Ivan Fyodorovich Shponka. We see him briefly in his young years, followed by his life in the army, and his return to the farm where his strong characterized aunt resides. We can see immediately that this man lives in constant cleanliness and dutiful paranoia; these are some of his desires that he wishes to exhibit to others. We can also see his fears, which reside in the confiscation of his masculinity and independence. This short story has many elements that resemble others in the Nikolai Gogol collection.

    Read More

  • Literary Techniques Used by Fyodor Dostoyevsky in Crime and Punishment

    2235 Words  | 5 Pages

    Dostoyevsky's writing in this book is such that the characters and setting around the main subject, Raskolnikov, are used with powerful consequences. The setting is both symbolic and has a power that affects all whom reside there, most notably Raskolnikov. An effective Structure is also used to show changes to the plot's direction and Raskolnikov's character. To add to this, the author's word choice and imagery are often extremely descriptive, and enhance the impact at every stage of Raskolnikov's changing fortunes and character. All of these features aid in the portrayal of Raskolnikov's downfall and subsequent rise.

    Read More

  • A & P, by John Updike

    1758 Words  | 4 Pages

    Updike, John. “A & P.” The Norton Introduction to Literature. Eds. Alison Booth and Kelly

    Read More

  • Imagination In On The Rainy River By Tim O Brien

    1148 Words  | 3 Pages

    Tim is a well educated graduating student from Macalester College and a man who sometimes gets sidetracked with his own fantasy world presented in the first paragraph “Tim O’Brien: a secret hero. The Lone Ranger. If the stakes ever become high enough-if the evil were evil enough, if the good were good enough-I would simply tap a secret reservoir of courage that had been accumulating inside me over the years” which shows how individualistic Tim is and his wishes to be able to control his courage which he later explains “offered hope and grace”. Tim is a self-confident character, but imagining himself going to war is not in his best interest as he holds himself to the highest standard stating “I was too good for this war. Too smart, too compassionate, too everything. It couldn’t happen. I was above it.”. Tim had experienced the outdoors and despised of it; he loved his studies and the thought of him receiving scholarships to further educate himself motivated him even more. One of the most compelling evidence that causes Tim to change his mind is when Tim is on a fishing boat with Elroy and Tim begins to see an illusion of his family, friends, his past teachers and others that have been involved in his life. Such an event caused a dramatic change in Tim as gives up his hope of going to Canada and states “And right then I submitted. I would go to war-I would kill and maybe die-because I was embarrassed not to.”. Ultimately, Tim’s decision of heading to war was meat because of his family and friends little did he know of the regret this decision would cause

    Read More

  • “The Slynx” by Tatyana Tolstaya: A Story From Russia's Censorship Period

    1019 Words  | 3 Pages

    Although the novel depicts a variety of characters, it mainly revolves around one figure – a young man, named Benedikt. From the beginning he seems to be rather naïve and comparable to the traditional Russian character – Ivanushka Durachok (Иванушка Дурачок). He does not ask questions, he goes with the system and, in general, is quite ignorant of the world. However, he does experience a major character transformation once he encounters the “joy” of books. Although, what is supposed to bring happiness and knowledge, to him becomes a physical addiction without the mental benefits – he reads just to read, not to understand. Besides Benedikt, there are other characters that seem to stay in the background. They are very strictly divided in to the social groups, as the Golubchiks, the naïve and easily controllable commoners; the Olderners, people who survived the Blast, do not get older and resemble the intelligentsia; the Murzas, ...

    Read More

  • From Childhood to Adulthood in Updike's A&P

    1384 Words  | 3 Pages

    Updike, John. "A&P." Literature: Reading Fiction, Poetry, and Drama. Ed. Robert DiYanni. 5th ed. New York, NY: McGraw, 2002. 27-31.

    Read More

  • A & P and Everyday Use Analysis and Comparison

    1679 Words  | 4 Pages

    Updike, John. “A&P” Literature: Reading, Reacting, Writing, Compact. Ed. Laurie G. Kirszner., and Stephen R. Mandell

    Read More

  • John Updike A & P Analysis

    1015 Words  | 3 Pages

    Updike, John. "A&P." The Harper Anthology of Fiction. Ed. Sylvan Barnet. New York: HarperCollins, 1991.1026-1030.

    Read More

  • Sonia and Raskolnikov in Dostoevsky's Crime and Punishment

    490 Words  | 1 Pages

    Due in part to their self-sacrificing lives, both characters are also trying to search for meaning in the dreary existence which they are subjected to. Sonia finds this meaning in the Bible, in a belief in God. Raskolnikov writes a theory. He finds solace in thinking that he himself is a god-like creature, he believes he is extraordinary. A belief in being a subject of the Divine and thinking that there are two divisions of men is extremely close. Both of these characters also have their meaning attacked. Porfiry Petrovich attacks and picks for holes in the theory of Raskolnikov. Perhaps as a reaction to this, Raskolnikov picks holes in the support for meaning in Sonia's life--God, the Bible, and her faith. The final glues that continually attracts these two characters is the fact that all their morbid similarities bring them together so that they actually enjoy each other's presence.

    Read More

  • Raskolnikov’s Theory of Extraordinary Men

    1286 Words  | 3 Pages

    Raskolinkov’s beliefs transform from the beginning of the novel to the ending. His theory was never complete and to test his theory he commits the murder of an evil soul. The irony of this novel is Raskolinkov who though he was an extraordinary men, have the will to commit murder but not the power to live with the crime on his hands.

    Read More

More about Timofey Pnin

Open Document