"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.
"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.