Date finished 05 Mar 2021
Recommendation: 9/10
Extraordinary. The poet John Shade is dead. This book is a commentary on his last poem which has been edited and published by his friend(?), neighbour and fellow academic Charles Kinbote. Kinbote claims to be from a land called Zembla and progressively reveals more than he’d like. He weaves in a story of revolution and a King’s escape; he’s narcissistic, fantastical, but is he deranged? By the end you’re unsure what to believe. That’s the beauty of it; like an Escher painting as you get closer it doesn’t have a neat beginning and end. There are many layers and the genius of the writing frequently made me smile or laugh out loud; it’s funny, deadpan and descriptive in ingenious ways. An outstanding work.
A few excerpts where the comedy and flair of writing made me smile:
“A comfortable burp told me he had a flask of brandy concealed about his warmly coated person.”
“Physically, he was a sickly baldheaded man resembling a pallid gland. His face was singularly featureless”.
“Let no insurance firm or airline use this insigne on the glossy page of a magazine as an ad badge under the picture of a retired businessman stupefied and honoured by the sight of the technicolored snack that the air hostess offers him with everything else she can give“.
“..fairly panting with animal pleasure.”
“His lips moving like wrestling worms.”