Despair

"Despair" (1934) is the sixth novel by Vladimir Nabokov, written in Berlin, and his third psychological-criminal novel, after "King, Queen, Knave" and "The Camera Obscura," that rejects the conventions of this genre. Hermann, a Berlin merchant of Russian-German descent, convinced of his genius, plans a crime that, like a work of art, should become a masterpiece of ingenuity and impeccable execution. Life, however, proves to be much wittier and more artistic than the flawed scheme, the crooked mirror of which only distorts reality. The first-person narrative form, the protagonist-narrator's belief in his own uniqueness, and the brilliant style bring "Despair" closer to "Lolita," written twenty years later.