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AUGUST

	Pnin ★★★1/2 Finished 29-8-24
	Review ! "If his Russian was music, his English was murder." This book was so fun. Many times was I snickering, holding my finger on the page to track the sentences. God, Nabakov was in quite a prose mood writing this, wasn't he? A light, comedic, sometimes teetering on satirical, book. With big paragraphs and long sentences, this book needed me to put in all my concentration. I really enjoyed this though. Nabokov has a gorgeous way of writing. As a lover of the mundane, the story didn't feel boring to me at all. Not to mention Pnin is strangely magnetic. Though, I was left wondering, "what was this book for?" I took some time to think about it, and I still can't really come up with any witty analysis. Though I am very interested in reading everyone's reviews and seeing what they thought about it. All in all, I really enjoyed it, and I wish to reread it sometime again and properly analyze it. I will now list some notes for myself. New words I stumbled upon: desuetude = a state of disuse, discontinuance from use or exercise rotund = (of a person) large and plump. gusto = enjoyment and enthusiasm in doing something. veritable = used to describe something as another, more exciting, interesting, or unusual thing, as a way of emphasizing its character. examples: My garden had become a veritable jungle by the time I came back from holiday. The normally sober menswear department is set to become a veritable kaleidoscope of colour this season. fervid = very hot, burning Not a word, but I loved it when he put in "Pninizing" as a way to name his antics. Or "Pninian". The way he socialised and organised his quarters was all quite, "Pnin-core", as the modern people would say now. Writing I liked: He was beloved not for any essential ability, but for those unforgettable digressions of his, when he would remove his glasses to beam at the past while massaging his lenses of the present. The accumulation of consecutive rooms in his memory now resembled those displays of grouped elbow chairs on show, and beds, and lamps, and inglebooks which, ignoring all space-time distinctions, commingle in the soft light of a furniture store beyond which it snows, and the dusk deepens, and nobody really loves anybody. Some sentences that characterised Pnin nicely: (..) a recently inaugurated and not very successful little restaurant which Pnin frequented from sheer sympathy with failure. He was afraid of touching his own wrist. He never attempted to sleep on his left side, even in those dismal hours of the night when the insomniac longs for a third side after trying the two he has. And although the speech he smothered behind his dancing hand was now doubly unintelligible to the class, his complete surrender to his own merriment would prove irresistible. --> he was quite charming / interesting It was the world that was absent-minded and it was Pnin whose business it was to set it straight. --> Does he see himself as special? A messiah? Tortured artist? "I'm the only enlightened one, woe is me, why must I suffer while everyone else is unaware and dumb"? Electric devices enchanted him. Plastics swept him off his feet. He had a deep admiration for the zipper. --> He sees the beauty in "simple" "everyday" things

Pnin

★★★1/2

Finished 29-8-24

Review !

"If his Russian was music, his English was murder."

This book was so fun. Many times was I snickering, holding my finger on the page to track the sentences. God, Nabakov was in quite a prose mood writing this, wasn't he?

A light, comedic, sometimes teetering on satirical, book. With big paragraphs and long sentences, this book needed me to put in all my concentration.

I really enjoyed this though. Nabokov has a gorgeous way of writing. As a lover of the mundane, the story didn't feel boring to me at all. Not to mention Pnin is strangely magnetic.

Though, I was left wondering, "what was this book for?" I took some time to think about it, and I still can't really come up with any witty analysis. Though I am very interested in reading everyone's reviews and seeing what they thought about it.

All in all, I really enjoyed it, and I wish to reread it sometime again and properly analyze it. I will now list some notes for myself.

New words I stumbled upon:
desuetude = a state of disuse, discontinuance from use or exercise

rotund = (of a person) large and plump.

gusto = enjoyment and enthusiasm in doing something.

veritable = used to describe something as another, more exciting, interesting, or unusual thing, as a way of emphasizing its character.
examples:
My garden had become a veritable jungle by the time I came back from holiday.
The normally sober menswear department is set to become a veritable kaleidoscope of colour this season.

fervid = very hot, burning

Not a word, but I loved it when he put in "Pninizing" as a way to name his antics. Or "Pninian". The way he socialised and organised his quarters was all quite, "Pnin-core", as the modern people would say now.

Writing I liked:
He was beloved not for any essential ability, but for those unforgettable digressions of his, when he would remove his glasses to beam at the past while massaging his lenses of the present.

The accumulation of consecutive rooms in his memory now resembled those displays of grouped elbow chairs on show, and beds, and lamps, and inglebooks which, ignoring all space-time distinctions, commingle in the soft light of a furniture store beyond which it snows, and the dusk deepens, and nobody really loves anybody.

Some sentences that characterised Pnin nicely:
(..) a recently inaugurated and not very successful little restaurant which Pnin frequented from sheer sympathy with failure.

He was afraid of touching his own wrist. He never attempted to sleep on his left side, even in those dismal hours of the night when the insomniac longs for a third side after trying the two he has.

And although the speech he smothered behind his dancing hand was now doubly unintelligible to the class, his complete surrender to his own merriment would prove irresistible.
--> he was quite charming / interesting

It was the world that was absent-minded and it was Pnin whose business it was to set it straight.
--> Does he see himself as special? A messiah? Tortured artist? "I'm the only enlightened one, woe is me, why must I suffer while everyone else is unaware and dumb"?

Electric devices enchanted him. Plastics swept him off his feet. He had a deep admiration for the zipper.
--> He sees the beauty in "simple" "everyday" things

JANUARY

	Convenience Store Woman (2016) January ★ Finished ??
	Review ! "The normal world has no room for exceptions and always quietly eliminates foreign objects. Anyone who is lacking is disposed of. So that’s why I need to be cured. Unless I’m cured, normal people will expurgate me. Finally I understood why my family had tried so hard to fix me." Apologies, people, I am quite disappointed by this book. It felt empty, I didn't like the writing style, and I felt like the story didn't progress at all. I was quite excited to read a book about an "outcast", autistic-coded main character. Needless to say, I felt like the author didn't do her justice. I wished the book delved deeper into her. It felt like we were the people in her life, bystanders. Though it was explained what she felt, I couldn't feel it. That brings me to my next point, the writing. It felt... dull. Boring. I am interested to read more of this author's work to find out whether this was done on purpose, to showcase what the character's internal life looks like, or it was just poor writing. There was no introspection at all. I can't tell you exactly what I wished for, but I wished for something different. Something...more. Though, I have to say, it is nice to see this perspective in a story. It's almost taboo, and not many people will understand the main character. Some would even go as far to say this is totally unrealistic, that nobody acts like this. Loads do, though, and it is good it's being talked about more. Not a particularly enjoyable book, but glad I have read it nonetheless.

Convenience Store Woman (2016)

January

★

Finished ??

Review !

"The normal world has no room for exceptions and always quietly eliminates foreign objects. Anyone who is lacking is disposed of. So that’s why I need to be cured. Unless I’m cured, normal people will expurgate me. Finally I understood why my family had tried so hard to fix me."

Apologies, people, I am quite disappointed by this book. It felt empty, I didn't like the writing style, and I felt like the story didn't progress at all.

I was quite excited to read a book about an "outcast", autistic-coded main character. Needless to say, I felt like the author didn't do her justice. I wished the book delved deeper into her. It felt like we were the people in her life, bystanders. Though it was explained what she felt, I couldn't feel it.

That brings me to my next point, the writing. It felt... dull. Boring. I am interested to read more of this author's work to find out whether this was done on purpose, to showcase what the character's internal life looks like, or it was just poor writing.

There was no introspection at all. I can't tell you exactly what I wished for, but I wished for something different. Something...more.

Though, I have to say, it is nice to see this perspective in a story. It's almost taboo, and not many people will understand the main character. Some would even go as far to say this is totally unrealistic, that nobody acts like this. Loads do, though, and it is good it's being talked about more.

Not a particularly enjoyable book, but glad I have read it nonetheless.

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let's get reading...

Pnin

★★★1/2

Convenience Store Woman (2016)

★