Nabokov's fifth novel/novella features (no possible surprise by this point) White Russian emigres in Europe. Its main character, Martin, marks a return to, but even more so a surpassing of, the Romanticism of Nabokov's protagonist Ganin in his very first novel, [b:Mary|46323|Mary|Vladimir Nabokov|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1385313368s/46323.jpg|2738609]. Whereas Ganin, at the critical moment, abandons his fancy and sets himself on the course of pragmatism, Martin plunges ahead into an uncertain, though much feared by those left behind, fate.

Nabokov lays out the novel's purpose in his forward to the English translation, giving the Russian title Podvig a literal translation of "gallant feat" or "high deed", and mentioning that the working title of the novel was Romanticheskiy vek, or "Romantic times". Nabokov writes that he made Martin "much more naive than I ever was", an indication that he approves of the ultimate course of his first literary creation considerably more than he does of his full-blown, no-regrets Romantic creation.

Martin, after graduating Cambridge, scorns the offer of his wealthy Swiss uncle Henry to set him up in business. Instead, while on a train traveling the south of France, he impulsively disembarks at night after seeing the twinkling lights of a small village in the distance, which appeals to his Romantic impulse and hearkens back to a similar feeling of wonder and delight he experienced on seeing the same sort of vision as a child. He finds work as a farm laborer in the village and remains there for a season, working the earth under a drenching sun.

Returning thereafter to Switzerland, he again rebuffs the pleas of his uncle and mother to take the pragmatic course, and prepares to put into action his secret podvig: sneaking across the border into the Soviet Union. There is nothing political in this intention; Martin may come from the Russian exile milieu, but he has never taken any interest in politics. He rejects the idea of simply applying for a visa to enter Russia: what could be more prosaic. He confides in one friend that he intends to slip across, remain for 24 hours, and return to the other side. The only purpose of it is to do it. To adventure, to risk, to live. To perhaps die in the attempting, being taken for a spy. His friend is incredulous:

"This is absurd," reflected Darwin, "absurd and rather peculiar. Stayed quietly in Cambridge while they had their civil war, and now craves a bullet in the head for spying. Is he trying to mystify me? What an idiotic conversation."

The misunderstood Martin gets up and leaves, and... that's the last the reader or any of these characters sees of him. After setting this up, Nabokov abandons Martin's point of view on the cusp of his goal's fulfillment. Darwin receives a package of postcards from Riga, in Latvia, and travels there to try to find any trace of his friend, but there is nothing, and never is. His family and friends fear him dead.

Thus we have a curious ending to the novel, paralleling the curious actions of its protagonist. The end result is a minor Nabokov, excellent prose, mostly enjoyable.
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review to come. splendid! ( )

26. Glory by Vladimir Nabokov
translation: from Russian, by Dmitri Nabokov, with the author, 1971
published: 1930
format: 211-page 1971 hardcover
acquired: 2011, from my in-laws
read: May 2-18
time reading: 7 hr 43 min, 2.2 min/page
rating: 4
locations: Yalta, Athens, Switzerland, Cambridge, Berlin, southern France
about the author: 1899 – 1977. Russia born, educated at Trinity College in Cambridge, 1922, lived in Berlin (1922-1937), Paris, the US (1941-1961) and Montreux, Switzerland (1961-1977).

Seems Nabokov drifted away from his own world in his writing, and then began to return, focusing on the Russian exile community with the [Luzhin Defense] and [The Eye], and here focusing on young exiles in the 1920's, his own milieu. And, here, finally, it makes for a terrific book.

Martin Edelweiss is half-Swiss, grew up in St. Petersburg, but he begins the book as a teenager with his divorced mother, leaving Yalta to maybe places unknown. He ends up in Switzerland with an uncle, and later in Cambridge with other Russian students and an English student named, provocatively, Darwin. And there's an unrequited love interest, a Russian exile in London. Nabokov focuses on Martin and his narrow perspectives, emotions, and responses to the world around him. There are politics in the periphery, but mostly Martin isn't thinking about that. He is a coming of age hormonal, intelligent and athletic college student. I enjoyed Nabokov focusing more in on his own life experiences, in a way kind of humbling himself more than in his previous novels to what knew. There is a sense of integrity to the novel. Martin has his trials, pushing himself on the brink of Swiss cliffs, jumping off trains in unknown places, and struggling with a disappointment he cannot quite understand.

This is Nabokov's 5th novel, and, as I read through them, this was easily my favorite so far. It's finally driven me to be curious enough about his life to check out some books. After I finished I ordered a short biography by [[Jane Grayson]], and a longer biography of his wife, Vera, by [[Stacy Schiff]]. Not exactly one to recommend, as it's not a wow kind of novel, but definitely one you might enjoy, if you're interested, and I think will reward the effort.

2020
https://www.librarything.com/topic/318836#7168865 ( )

This was not Nabokov in his finest form. The language and attention that he usually commands were absent from this piece of work and the writing felt a little too unfocused and winding in such a way that it was detrimental to the novel as a whole. Overall, not a great Nabokov book. There are far better ones available. ( )

A strange, anxiety inducing test run for Speak, Memory. Martin is too sensitive, too gentle, and is mistreated by everyone he loves, even those who care for him, like his friend Darwin. Strange, and obviously written by a young Nabokov, a novel a regular person can write, not something acrobatic. ( )