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A review by schwarmgiven
Ada, or Ardor: A Family Chronicle by Vladimir Nabokov
5.0
Oh, Good Lord!
This book really should come with a warning label. I had read three other Nabokov books in 2021 (LuzHin, LoLiTa, Pal E Fir) and thought I was ready for anything--boy, was I wrong!
This book is MASSIVE. This book is HARD. This book is a Sci-fi alternate history incestuous demonology or something. Maybe. I am not even really sure where to start. Speaking of the start, it is like Simirlian initially. A brutal biblical family history trudge, followed by character driving weirdness and relationship reflections, combined with historical timelines that Philip K Dick could not track.
Seriously. Ada, or Ardor is a BIG FAT HARD TO READ monster of a 20th-century masterpiece. Be ready before you start. It will take time, internet research, library reading, and many other tools to get through.
Think Proust with puzzles, Pynchon with paradoxes, or Joyce with even more juice--a significant work with no easy way around,
Good luck, I broke Grammarly trying to write this review (where it was predicted "sounds friendly" of all things).
This book really should come with a warning label. I had read three other Nabokov books in 2021 (LuzHin, LoLiTa, Pal E Fir) and thought I was ready for anything--boy, was I wrong!
This book is MASSIVE. This book is HARD. This book is a Sci-fi alternate history incestuous demonology or something. Maybe. I am not even really sure where to start. Speaking of the start, it is like Simirlian initially. A brutal biblical family history trudge, followed by character driving weirdness and relationship reflections, combined with historical timelines that Philip K Dick could not track.
Seriously. Ada, or Ardor is a BIG FAT HARD TO READ monster of a 20th-century masterpiece. Be ready before you start. It will take time, internet research, library reading, and many other tools to get through.
Think Proust with puzzles, Pynchon with paradoxes, or Joyce with even more juice--a significant work with no easy way around,
Good luck, I broke Grammarly trying to write this review (where it was predicted "sounds friendly" of all things).