Invitation to a Beheading
by NABOKOV, Vladimir
- Used
- Fine
- Hardcover
- first
- Condition
- Fine/Fine
- Seller
-
Glendale, California, United States
Payment Methods Accepted
About This Item
First edition. Fine in fine dustwrapper. A superior copy, the white jacket is in much nicer than usual condition.
The novel is often described as Kafkaesque, but Nabokov claimed that at the time he wrote the book, he was unfamiliar with German and "completely ignorant" of Franz Kafka's work. Nabokov interrupted his work on The Gift in order to write Invitation to a Beheading, describing the creation of the first draft as "one fortnight of wonderful excitement and sustained inspiration." Some scholars have argued that the central plot of Invitation to a Beheading has its roots in Chernyshevski, a character from The Gift. Another view is that the novel functions as a roman à clef with the Platonic Socrates as its target.While Nabokov stated in an interview that of all his novels, he held the greatest affection for Lolita, it was for Invitation to a Beheading that he held the greatest "esteem".
The novel is often described as Kafkaesque, but Nabokov claimed that at the time he wrote the book, he was unfamiliar with German and "completely ignorant" of Franz Kafka's work. Nabokov interrupted his work on The Gift in order to write Invitation to a Beheading, describing the creation of the first draft as "one fortnight of wonderful excitement and sustained inspiration." Some scholars have argued that the central plot of Invitation to a Beheading has its roots in Chernyshevski, a character from The Gift. Another view is that the novel functions as a roman à clef with the Platonic Socrates as its target.While Nabokov stated in an interview that of all his novels, he held the greatest affection for Lolita, it was for Invitation to a Beheading that he held the greatest "esteem".
Synopsis
Invitation to a Beheading is a novel by Russian American author Vladimir Nabokov. It was originally published in Russian in 1935-1936 as a serial in Contemporary Notes (Sovremennye zapiski), a highly respected Russian émigré magazine. In 1938 the work was published in Paris, with an English translation following in 1959. The English version was translated by Nabokov's son, Dmitri Nabokov, under the author's supervision.
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Details
- Bookseller
- Reginald C. Williams Rare Books (US)
- Bookseller's Inventory #
- 246
- Title
- Invitation to a Beheading
- Author
- NABOKOV, Vladimir
- Format/Binding
- Publisher's cloth
- Book Condition
- Used - Fine
- Jacket Condition
- Fine
- Quantity Available
- 1
- Edition
- 1st
- Binding
- Hardcover
- Publisher
- Putnam
- Place of Publication
- New York
- Date Published
- 1959
- Size
- 8vo.
- Weight
- 0.00 lbs
- Keywords
- Russian Literature
- Bookseller catalogs
- New Arrivals July 2022;
Terms of Sale
Reginald C. Williams Rare Books
30 day return guarantee, with full refund including original shipping costs for up to 30 days after delivery if an item arrives misdescribed or damaged.
About the Seller
Reginald C. Williams Rare Books
Biblio member since 2021
Glendale, California
About Reginald C. Williams Rare Books
Reginald C. Williams Rare Books LLC, specializes in books from the 16th through 20th century. We stock many books in the field of literature, Western philosophy, Greek classics, the history of ideas, Medicine & Science & fine sets. We are always looking to purchase individual books in our areas of interest.
Glossary
Some terminology that may be used in this description includes:
- Jacket
- Sometimes used as another term for dust jacket, a protective and often decorative wrapper, usually made of paper which wraps...
- Dustwrapper
- Also known as book jacket, dust cover, or dust wrapper, a dust jacket is a protective and decorative cover for a book that is...
- Fine
- A book in fine condition exhibits no flaws. A fine condition book closely approaches As New condition, but may lack the...