Reviews

King, Queen, Knave by Vladimir Nabokov, Dmitri Nabokov

arquero's review

3.0

A toxic sex triangle and a sublime social insight.

It kept me thrilling throughout most of the book.
Alas the ending was too long, raving and unimaginative. Or was it too symbolic? Whatever, I felt like betrayed.
No doubt Nabokov is a great trickster. But didn't he trick himself this time?

evelykink's review against another edition

slow-paced

• Loveable characters? No

2.75

flaneussy's review

4.0

I thought KQK was great; it's amazing that between 1926 and 1928 (between the publications of KQK and Mary), Nabokov became so much stronger as a writer. The plot of this novel isn't all that complicated, so most of the beauty lies in Nabokov's rich, almost visceral descriptions (the first couple of chapters particularly fucked me up). And I'm always impressed by the unraveling of threads and the infinity of realities that Nabokov manages to create. More of a 4.5/5, with my one quibble being that the ending was sort of...eh. It just kept going.

dina_damask's review against another edition

funny relaxing fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

waveszz's review

adventurous dark funny mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

ellis_kelsey's review

4.0

I'm biased toward Nabokov as he's one of the authors that taught me to love reading in the first place, so take this review with a grain of salt.

I thought King, Queen, Knave was an absolute delight. I'm not giving it 5 stars only because I don't think it holds a flame to the likes of Lolita or Despair. But, in my opinion, Nabokov can do no wrong. He writes some of the most hatable characters I've ever read, including Martha (the titular Queen). She's awful! Don't get me started on spineless Franz either... God, I love him. The best part for me was the fact that the only character worthy of any admiration is Dreyer. Typically the butt of the love triangle in these stories is portrayed as a fool, but Nabokov turns the trope on its head and gives us two cheating idiots who ultimately (it could be argued, anyway) get what they deserve.

Love it.

mikelchartier's review

4.0

I struggle with my rating of this one because the story is so. effing. boring-and the characters are so flat that you feel like they're laughing at you for trying to get involved in their tale, but they don't have the character for that. Nabokov's story reflexively mocks itself - BUT! Big-N always strings words together to create, as he might put it, the language of dreams. I guess I'm a sucker for great prose over a good story.

baharshahraki's review against another edition

3.0

خیلی من و یاد خنده در تاریکی می انداخت انگار درون مایه شون یه طور بود به نظرم.. و اینکه از همون سرفه ی اول مارتا می دونستم که آخرش می میره. فقط توقع داشتم اون فرانتز بی خاصیت هم خودشو از پنجره بندازه پایین..

wonderterror's review against another edition

lighthearted fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

coffeebooks's review against another edition

funny lighthearted mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75