147:
with the protagonist, Adam Krug, who had just lost his wife to an unsuccessful surgery. He is quickly asked to sign and deliver a speech to the leader of the new government by the head of the university and his colleagues, but he refuses. This government is led by a man named Paduk and his "Party of the
Average Man". As it happens, the world-renowned philosopher Adam Krug was, in his youth, a classmate of Paduk, at which period he had bullied him and referred to him disparagingly as "the Toad". Paduk arrests many of the people close to Krug and those against his Ekwilist philosophy, and attempts to get the influential Professor Krug to promote the state philosophy to help stomp out dissent and increase his personal prestige.
138:" is its left-handed reverse. To a viewer facing the shield the appearances will be reversed, \ and / respectively. In a 1963 edition of the book, Nabokov explains that "this choice of a title was an attempt to suggest an outline broken by refraction, a distortion in the mirror of being, a wrong turn taken by life." In the novel, Nabokov often uses word-play concerning leftward (or "sinister") movements.
151:
Paduk promises David's safe return. However, when David is to be returned to him, Krug is horrified to find that the child he is presented is not his son. There has been a mix-up, and David has been sent to an orphanage that doubles as a violent prisoner rehabilitation clinic where he was killed when offered as a "release" to the prisoners.
34:
281:
Democracy is humanity at its best, not because we happen to think that a republic is better than a king and a king is better than nothing and nothing is better than a dictator, but because it is the natural condition of every man ever since the human mind became conscious not only of the world but of
154:
Paduk makes an offer to allow Krug to personally kill those responsible, but he swears at the officials and is locked in a large prison cell. Another offer is made to Krug to free 24 opponents of
Ekwilism, including many of his friends, in exchange for doing so. Krug refuses and begins to charge at
338:
can blink it away." Furthermore, the editor
Nabokov sent the original manuscript to, Allen Tate, deeply admired the work, calling it "the only first rate piece of literature that I have had the privilege of reading as an editor". Tate admired the work so much that he wrote the blurb for the novel,
150:
Paduk tries to entice Krug with various offers, but Krug always refuses, even after his friends and acquaintances, like Ember, are incarcerated. Finally, Paduk orders the kidnapping of Krug's young son, David, for a ransom. After Krug capitulates and is prepared to promote the
Ekwilist philosophy,
146:
This book takes place in a fictitious
European city known as Padukgrad, where a government arises following the rise of a philosophy known as "Ekwilism", which discourages the idea of anyone being different from anyone else, and promotes the state as the prominent good in society. The story begins
366:, for all its shortcomings, evinces an unnerving prescience that reminds us of our proximity to a darker past, but also our ability to overcome it. It is one of Nabokov's finest statements on the fight to reclaim freedom and individualism against the pressures of mass culture and victimization."
276:
and Soviet Russia represented fundamentally the same brutish vulgarity inimical to everything most vulnerable and most valuable in human life". In
February 1943, Nabokov would give an impassioned speech at a panel discussion at Wellesley, extolling the virtues of democracy while denouncing
333:
It will be too bad if this book fails to find an audience because the armed battle with tyrant states has ended. The war goes on, and the problem, the struggle of free thought against the totalitarian state, is still with us. No one reads
170:– University philosopher and protagonist. Krug is the foremost writer and thinker of Padukgrad. His cooperation with and endorsement of the Party of the Average Man is crucial to the regime's international relations.
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Such influences aside, Nabokov was insistent on his aestheticism, disclaiming any interest in the "literature of social comment" and denying "automatic comparisons between
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Paduk and is killed by a pair of bullets from the dictator's henchmen. At this point, Nabokov feels such pity for Krug that he actually intervenes and emphasizes that
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itself. Morally, democracy is invincible. Physically, that side will win which has the better guns. Of faith and pride, both sides have plenty. That
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concluding in it that the "mastery of
English prose exhibited has not been surpassed by any writer of our generation who was born to English".
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pride are of a totally different order cannot concern an enemy who believes in shedding blood and is proud of its own.
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in 1942 while the greater part was composed in the winter and spring of 1945–1946, soon after the completion of
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to the lower sinister (that is, from the upper right of the coat of arms' bearer to his lower left) and a "
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Of the reviews it did garner, reactions were generally mixed, perhaps best exemplified by
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However, it has received retrospective praise from a number of contemporary critics.
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s comments which called it "at once impressive, powerful and oddly exasperating."
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272:. Brian Boyd writes that Nabokov wrote the novel in "an attempt to show that
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in 1947. It was
Nabokov's eleventh novel and his second written in English.
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240:, before finally settling on the current name. The manuscript was sent to
225:. The novel's title was quite volatile, as Nabokov originally titled it
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was, thankfully, a fictional story and that Adam Krug never existed.
182:– Adam's son, who is killed by Padukgrad criminals in a mix-up.
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victory, which deeply disturbed
Nabokov, a fierce opponent of
176:– Adam's late wife, who dies right before the novel begins.
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1330:American novels adapted into television shows
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604:"Nabokov's Dystopic 'Bend Sinister' Turns 65"
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1355:Russian novels adapted into television shows
326:The novel did receive a glowing review from
256:and after their downfall, a new wave of pro-
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649:, Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press
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497:Vladimir Nabokov: The Velvet Butterfly
1292:Vladimir Dmitrievich Nabokov (father)
1203:The Man from the USSR and Other Plays
1160:Details of a Sunset and Other Stories
666:, New York, NY: Vintage International
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277:totalitarian states in the process:
130:" is a diagonal band from the upper
1153:Tyrants Destroyed and Other Stories
1325:American novels adapted into films
1146:A Russian Beauty and Other Stories
1102:Spring in Fialta and other stories
14:
1350:Russian novels adapted into films
816:The Real Life of Sebastian Knight
521:Watts, Richard Jr. (1947-07-07).
217:at the time, first began writing
851:Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle
494:Levy, Alan (29 September 2015).
260:sentiment swept America, as the
1167:The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov
500:. Open Road Media. p. 86.
264:had played a large role in the
21:Bend Sinister (disambiguation)
16:1947 novel by Vladimir Nabokov
1:
213:Nabokov, who was teaching at
1345:Henry Holt and Company books
602:Kerbel, Sam (12 June 2012).
382:in 1970. It was directed by
252:During the war against the
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1340:Novels by Vladimir Nabokov
1189:The Tragedy of Mister Morn
662:Nabokov, Vladimir (1990),
38:Cover of the first edition
18:
784:Invitation to a Beheading
374:A black and white German
232:before soon electing for
126:In heraldry, a standard "
31:
1277:Nabokov House and Museum
865:Look at the Harlequins!
1070:That in Aleppo Once...
523:"Comic-Strip Dictator"
345:, writing in his book
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116:Henry Holt and Company
76:Henry Holt and Company
1260:Nabokov's Butterflies
872:The Original of Laura
376:television adaptation
1320:1947 American novels
1287:Dmitri Nabokov (son)
770:Laughter in the Dark
645:Boyd, Brian (1991),
19:For other uses, see
1282:Véra Nabokov (wife)
1196:The Waltz Invention
1138:Cloud, Castle, Lake
1130:Nabokov's Congeries
936:The Return of Chorb
922:Details of a Sunset
559:movies2.nytimes.com
262:Soviet Armed Forces
229:Person from Porlock
209:Publication history
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1246:Poems and Problems
915:A Matter of Chance
858:Transparent Things
742:King, Queen, Knave
392:Heinrich Schweiger
329:The New York Times
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1123:Nabokov's Quartet
1063:Signs and Symbols
1027:Tyrants Destroyed
943:A Guide to Berlin
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390:as Adam Krug and
302:'s creations and
215:Wellesley College
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92:Publication place
66:Dystopian fiction
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306:'s clichés".
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1095:Nine Stories
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1013:The Leonardo
992:Lips to Lips
978:The Aurelian
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448:, p. 91
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424:, p. 91
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411:Nabokov 1990
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386:and starred
380:West Germany
378:was made in
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234:Game to Gunm
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223:World War II
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142:Plot summary
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102:
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1238:Miscellanea
1213:Non-fiction
1087:Collections
749:The Defense
608:The Forward
555:"Lifetimes"
359:The Forward
254:Axis powers
110:written by
1314:Categories
613:2019-08-23
564:2019-08-23
540:2019-08-23
398:References
394:as Paduk.
343:Brian Boyd
286:faith and
248:Influences
242:Allen Tate
204:Background
180:David Krug
163:Characters
1298:Nabokovia
1253:Carrousel
844:Pale Fire
590:Boyd 1991
578:Boyd 1991
535:0028-6583
482:Boyd 1991
470:Boyd 1991
458:Boyd 1991
446:Boyd 1991
434:Boyd 1991
422:Boyd 1991
310:Reception
270:Communism
238:Solus Rex
174:Olga Krug
168:Adam Krug
72:Publisher
929:Bachmann
791:The Gift
198:Mariette
54:Language
1270:Related
1055:English
893:Russian
808:English
777:Despair
756:The Eye
727:Russian
713:(works)
639:Sources
362:wrote "
57:English
1037:French
999:Orache
908:Sounds
830:Lolita
720:Novels
672:
655:
533:
504:
304:Orwell
266:Allied
132:dexter
44:Author
1181:Plays
1006:Music
957:Razor
763:Glory
321:'
300:Kafka
192:Ember
186:Paduk
122:Title
106:is a
62:Genre
837:Pnin
735:Mary
670:ISBN
653:ISBN
531:ISSN
502:ISBN
370:Film
298:and
258:USSR
227:The
128:bend
87:1947
331:: "
288:our
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