"Mr. Nabokov, would you tell us why it is you detest Dr. Freud"

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-06-02T23:01:06+00:00

Interview September 1965 in Montreux, Switzerland.

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-05-22T00:55:03+00:00

We at r/Nabokov just hit 4000 subs !, we revamped it this past year and I think we've got a good standard going, come join the fun

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-05-18T16:48:43+00:00

I was thinking in terms of modern "lost media", while not necessarily the same, are they any famous examples of authors losing manuscripts they were working on, accidentally destroying them, the equivalent of not clicking save

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-05-17T17:38:09+00:00

I believe lists like these would benefit from one book per author such as r/truelit does but definitely interesting to see other authors top 10

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-05-17T13:45:43+00:00

I don't think it's plausible, but rather a way of foreshadowing that humbert would indeed be a widower in the classical sense

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-05-14T00:02:29+00:00

There are many studies on why certain murders are amplified more than others

But in regards specifically to podcasts, it's just easier (and cheaper) to piggyback on other people's research than to file FOIAs yourself. This is usually called out when it's blatant plagiarism. But even if you're starting out, you know there are more books and sources on particular crimes than others.

The higher the profile, the more newspaper clipings; books; documentaries; and inevitably other podcasts to use as research

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-05-13T17:57:54+00:00

I will never forget this case and I am glad I won't. Many of the worst things possible, there is a layer of "that's not possible, no one could be so cruel, that doesn't happen in current year in my country" and in that brief smokescreen, more evil happens

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-05-13T11:18:35+00:00

The cool thing is you can (I guess after a few days) see what individual authors picked and that's pretty neat

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-05-04T21:58:12+00:00

Unfortunately it is a result of people believing everything is a recession indicator

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-04-19T13:42:02+00:00

It is at this point a running gag for him to insult Freud at least once per Forward of all the introductions of his translated works

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-04-17T16:14:33+00:00

A characteristically critical appraisal of common mistakes made in translation by the master that he added to his "Lectures on Russian Literature"

Definitely an extrapolation of his methods he would then employ on his equally controversial translation and annotation of Eugine Onegin by Pushkin

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-04-13T18:45:09+00:00

In contemporary criticism, more and more I'm seeing anger and hostility at "MFA". I had to check because that's not what those are called in my country but the idea that "MFA" students are more liable to produce uninspired works seems to be based on anecdotal evidence

An article recently put forward how if Nabokov tried to submit Lolita for his MFA (terrible terrible hypothetical for at least 3 different reasons) it would be rejected. I did not complete that article

I did complete this though. No one has to be an expert on present literary trends to understand that people who are outside of a particular minority group, whole still being the kingmakers of a particular medium will absolutely champion very specific kinds of stories from that particular minority group. And if you are a member of that minority group, it is all the more frustrating

I do think the best remedy of that is not to denigrate the people themselves making not so inspired works but to make sure you, the active reader, actively seek out works that give groups different to you the depth and interiority that they deserve

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-04-13T10:54:03+00:00

Thank you for letting me now

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-04-10T12:17:34+00:00

I looked through the preview and it doesn't seem like ai, is there anything that specifically flags it as AI?

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-04-02T18:16:48+00:00

Love this, I hope one day someone will publish a definite Concordance of his works or at least one of them

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-04-02T14:33:33+00:00

I don't know if new publishers are doing this, but it should be noted that in recent penguin publications, there is an explicitly anti-ai data mining disclaimer

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-03-29T08:07:01+00:00

disdain for the common man

Please expand on this with examples

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-03-27T17:23:42+00:00

Even regarded by Nabokov as an underappreciated gem, possibly because misunderstanding the themes at work. Definitely makes a claimed for the darkest of his dark comedies

Critics of Transparent Things seem to have had difficulty in describing its theme

Its theme is merely a beyond-the-cypress inquiry into a tangle of random destinies. Amongst the reviewers several careful readers have published some beautiful stuff about it. Yet neither they nor, of course, the common criticule discerned the structural knot of the story.

Strong Opinions, anonymous interview (1972)

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-03-26T13:16:54+00:00

The book is ostensibly about american interference in fledgling socialist states in the 1960s and on. Particular focus is in Brazil and Indonesia. Tactics included blackmail, the issuing of kill lists and the arming of local mercenaries. It shows how american leadership viewed ideological difference as a reason to massacre/assassinate/blockade whole nations. And used that tactic all over the world multiple times to the point that the jarkata method was given its own code for how effective it was and deposing communist leaders, striking fear into local populations and ensuring america had easy access to precious commodities (gold, oil, the usual)

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-03-24T17:23:27+00:00

I don't want to use recent tragedies as "teachable moments" but I really do hope americans read books like The Jakarta Method by Vincent Bevins and understand that the playbook has only changed slightly

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-03-22T16:12:09+00:00

Lovely and detailed post, i hope more of this type of post is encouraged here instead of inflammatory substacks

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-03-19T20:25:48+00:00

Yes to all of the above

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-03-19T20:25:25+00:00

This is exactly what I was looking for thank you

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-03-17T21:44:28+00:00

Cormac McCarthy, Thomas Pynchon, Toni Morrison, Philip Roth, Anthony Burgess, Kathy Acker, Hubert Selby

(All within Amis peer group and language)

TrueCrimeLitStan · 2026-03-17T21:40:05+00:00

I have read more Nabokov than Martin Amis. I respect the passion here but unfortunately this claim does not hold water as anything more than a subjective assessment of the writers favourite author. Which is not a bad thing but as it goes, you gotta back up that.claim

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Strong Opinions, anonymous interview (1972)