Collected Poems

Finally, a beautiful edition from Penguin worthy of the master Vladimir Nabokov: the hardcover book is nice to hold, truly sewn, and is set in the very pleasing Joanna type (originally designed by Eric Gill and named after his daughter in the 1930s). Although I do own all of Nabokov's first editions (Putnam, McGraw-Hill, Weidenfeld & Nicolson), this new Penguin edition of all his works is a welcome addition that invites one to re-re-read this most re-readable of writers, and I look forward to the other titles in this series.

Gorgeous read. Would recommend.

just perfect!

Here's one of my favorite pieces:The rain has flown and burnt up in flight.I tread the red sand of a path.Golden orioles whistle, the rowan is in bloom,the catkins on sallows are white.The air is refreshing, humid and sweet.How good the caprifole smells!Downward a leaf inclines its tipand drops from its tip a pearl.This is no-holds-barred poetry from the pen of the great Sirin. Nabokov, in the poetic precision of his prose, had the natural gift for poetry since his adolescence as is evident from the sophomore poem Music written when he was only fifteen years of age.Midst everyday nighttime, there sparklesa music with billowing might,that plays like a fountain harmoniouso'er the crowd's noisome, philistine plight.This is poetry that is as nonchalant as it is intense in its use of rhyme and metaphor. Nabokov had the poet's grace while performing as one of the greatest novelists of the twentieth century. And in his poetry, in particular, he lets loose all the tricks and artistry that had gone on the signify the unparalleled cadence of his prose. That is quite natural when considering the fact that he considered himself primarily as a poet.This collection marks the first translation into English of one of his most autobiographical pieces The University Poem rendered superbly in English by his son, Dimitri Nabokov. It is longer than most of his other poems and can give the longer and much more eulogised verses of Pale Fire a good challenge.

It is Nabokov.Enough said.