Transparent Things

Name: Transparent Things
ISBN: 9787532762507

Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov / 陈安全Shanghai Translation Publishing House · ChinaJun 2015

4.0

Word count: 55K words
Chapters: 27
ISBN: 9787532762507

Report an error Find this book

Summary

The novel revolves around the protagonist Hugh Person and his four visits to Switzerland. It opens with an account of his fourth return to Switzerland, while his first visit there was eighteen years earlier. In his youth, Hugh Person was a melancholy, shy publisher; during his second trip to Switzerland, he fell in love with Amanda, who later became his wife. Person has always lived in his memories, insisting on staying at the same hotel every time he comes to Switzerland. Yet at the same time, he tries hard to escape his memories, because they can only bring him pain.

Editor's review

Transparent Things is a collection of short stories from Nabokov's late years, gathering thirteen pieces first published in 1975, several of which saw the light of day only after the author's death. Unlike the pyrotechnics of novels such as Lolita and Pale Fire, this posthumous collection displays a transparent texture of return to simplicity—the narrator often intrudes directly as "I," exploring core motifs of memory, time, death, and artistic creation, in distilled prose with profound resonance. The opening title piece, Transparent Things, may be read as a condensed manifesto of Nabokov's aesthetics: the protagonist's pursuit of a state of "transparency" is in fact the writer's metaphor for art's power to transcend the barriers of time and space. Throughout the book run Nabokov's signature microscopic attention to detail, games with time, and metafictional self-awareness, but the tone is quieter and more introspective; in pieces such as "The Past Recalled" and "Thunderstorm," an existential tremor lies hidden beneath seemingly ordinary domestic scenes. Note that these short pieces are not plot-driven traditional stories but slices of consciousness in motion; the reader must set aside expectations of linear narrative and immerse themselves in the texture of the language itself and the glimmer of philosophical thought. This Shanghai Translation Publishing House edition uses a meticulously collated translation with detailed annotations, providing essential support for understanding Nabokov's allusions and puns.

Who it's for

A good fit for

Dedicated Nabokov readers eager to explore the evolution of his late style
Literary enthusiasts interested in experimental short fiction forms
Readers drawn to philosophical questions of time, memory, and the ontology of art
Writers seeking to learn how complex meaning can be carried by spare prose

Not a good fit for

Readers of popular fiction expecting strong plot and fast-paced narrative
Newcomers to Nabokov who have not yet read his major works

Reading tips

It is advisable to read a major novel such as Lolita or Pnin first to establish a sense of Nabokov's basic style before approaching this collection
Reading alongside Nabokov's lectures, Lectures on Literature and Lectures on Russian Literature, can help clarify his artistic views
These short pieces are best read slowly, with a pause for reflection between each, noting the recurring natural imagery and temporal metaphors

About the publisher

Shanghai Translation Publishing House China · Founded in 1978

Shanghai Translation Publishing House is a Chinese publisher oriented mainly toward translation and publishing. Its publications cover foreign literature, world classics and classic works, as well as social culture, folk literature and classical poetry. The database contains 2,618 titles, including Never Let Me Go, Les Misérables (2 volumes), Don Quixote (illustrated collector's edition), The Complete Comedies of Molière (4 volumes), The Complete Novels of Kafka (3 volumes), The Collected Works of Dostoevsky (9-volume set), Reason and Persons, and Oedipus Rex (Translation Classics). Its author resources include foreign writers such as Kazuo Ishiguro, Victor Hugo, Cervantes and Molière, as well as translators such as Zheng Kelu, Sun Jiameng, Li Jianwu and Zhang Kun. The publisher has brands such as "Translation Classics Selections" and "Translation Documentary," and emphasizes translated works in foreign literature and the humanities and social sciences, while also publishing bilingual dictionaries and foreign-language educational books. Public information is limited; the above is based on the book information in the database.

版权信息
一
二
三
四
五
六
七
八
九
一〇
一一
一二
一三
一四
一五
一六
一七
一八
一九
二〇
二一
二二
二三
二四
二五
二六

FAQ

How does this book differ from Nabokov's other short story collections, such as Spring in Fialta?

Transparent Things is the last collection Nabokov assembled before his death; its themes are more concentrated on late-life meditation on death and eternity, and the language is extremely spare yet denser, with less of the visible playfulness found in his earlier stories.

Are there difficult literary allusions in the book?

Nabokov habitually employs multilingual parody and cultural references; the translation includes detailed notes explaining metaphors drawn from Russian literature, European art, and entomology, so general readers can grasp the core intent with their help.

Do these short stories contain autobiographical elements?

Some pieces (such as "The Past Recalled") carry undertones of exile memory and childhood retrospect, but Nabokov always insisted that art stands above autobiography; all experience is aesthetically reconstructed and should not be mapped directly onto reality.

Comments

Find this book

This site is an index: you start “Search all sources” in your browser, and the entries it lists all point to third-party sites; please judge their availability yourself.

About the author

Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov Author · Russian-American · 1899–1977

Vladimir Nabokov was a Russian-born American novelist, poet, translator, and lepidopterist. Born in 1899 into a noble family in St. Petersburg, he went into exile in Europe in 1919, later graduated from Cambridge University, became a U.S. citizen in 1945, and taught at Cornell University; he died in Montreux, Switzerland, in 1977. His work spans novels, short stories, essays, and literary criticism, with major titles including Lolita, Pale Fire, Pnin, and Speak, Memory. His prose is intricate and ornate, marked by irony, wordplay, and unreliable narration, and has deeply influenced modern fictional technique; annotated and guided editions of Lolita and his correspondence collections attest to the continued reach of his work in the Chinese-speaking world.

陈安全 Author

Chen Anquan is a Chinese book author about whom limited public information is available; his nationality, dates of birth and death, and personal background are not recorded in public sources. Five works by him are currently held in the library, all in the field of foreign literature. His representative translations or edited selections include the five-volume Nabokov Selected Works II, as well as Invitation to a Beheading and Transparent Things. These works indicate that Chen Anquan's writing and translation focus on the Russian-American writer Vladimir Nabokov, presenting his novels and shorter works in Chinese. The style of the translations presumably follows the delicacy, subtlety, and irony of the originals, with attention to preserving narrative layers and linguistic playfulness. Although public information is limited and a full biography cannot be outlined, Chen Anquan's contribution, judged by the existing works, lies in bringing Nabokov's less widely known or stylistically distinctive texts to Chinese readers, offering reference translations for enthusiasts and scholars of foreign literature.