The Real Life of Sebastian Knight

by Vladimir Nabokov

John Lanchester (Afterword)

Spurred on by admiration for his novelist half-brother and irritation at the biography written about him by Mr Goodman ('his slapdash and very misleading book'), the narrator, V, sets out to record Sebastian Knight's life as he understands it. But buried amid the extensive quoting, digressions, seeming explanations and digs, Sebastian's erratic and troubled persona remains as elusive as ever.

Nabokov's first novel written in English, The Real Life of Sebastian Knight is a nuanced, enigmatic potrayal of the conflict between the real and the unreal, and the futile quest for human truth.

• ISBN10: 0141185996
• ISBN13: 9780141185996
• Publish Date: 29 March 2001 (first published 1 February 1959)
• Publish Status: Active
• Publish Country: GB
• Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd
• Imprint: Penguin Classics
• Format: Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
• Pages: 192
• Language: English

Reviews

[rohshey]

I'm just guna come out and say it.

This is better than Lolita.

It is fictional biography/mystery. It is one or the other or both. And Nabokov is definitely having fun with the various conventions and forms that these two genre frequently utilize.

As in many of Nabokov’s novels, not much really occurs. Tea, train-rides, conversations in a garden, and yet so much is happening behind the scenes, in between these small moments.

Nabokov frequently laughs at his readers but I’ve never felt that more strongly than here in this novel. It was as if he was looking over my shoulder and poking me in the ribs. “Huh…uh….huh…you see that. Did you see that?!”

The only way to really experience a Vladimir Nabokov novel is to pick one up and dive in. There are some things you will catch and then there are those that you will completely miss. The joy is in knowing that there is always more to discover.