In my opinion, one of the best books was by Nabokov.

His works are known for their unique style and profound themes.

Nabokov's writing is often characterized by its complexity, rich language, and vivid descriptions.

His books take readers on a journey through different worlds and experiences.

They explore various aspects of human nature, love, loss, and the meaning of life.

One of his most famous works is "Lolita," which tells the story of a man's obsession with a young girl.

This novel is not only a controversial and thought-provoking read but also a masterpiece of literature.

Nabokov's other works, such as "Pale Fire" and "Ada or Ardor," are also highly regarded and值得一读.

Overall, Nabokov is a literary giant whose works continue to inspire and influence readers and writers alike.

I find myself having a strong urge to watch an hour-long video essay dedicated to this book. There is something about this particular book that has piqued my interest to such an extent. I believe that a video essay would offer a more in-depth exploration and analysis of the book's themes, characters, and overall narrative. It could provide different perspectives and interpretations that I might not have considered on my own. Watching a video essay would also allow me to engage with the material in a more visual and auditory way, which could enhance my understanding and enjoyment of the book. I'm looking forward to delving into this hour-long video and uncovering all the hidden gems and insights that it has to offer about this fascinating book.

A Simple View on a Strange and Mysterious Book:

It was a masterpiece... The complex and illusion-filled space created in this book is rarely seen...
When reading this book, don't just look for the solutions to the complications and ambiguities in the text. Read it, think about it, imagine it. Just like me, imagine that a Russian director (preferably Andrei Tarkovsky) makes a film of it and see what happens!!
The life of Sin Sinatus is the life of all of us...

This book takes the reader on a journey through a world that is both familiar and strange. The author has crafted a story that is full of mystery and intrigue, making it impossible to put down. The characters are well-developed and the plot is engaging, keeping the reader on the edge of their seat from beginning to end.

One of the most interesting aspects of this book is the way in which the author uses language to create a sense of atmosphere and mood. The descriptions are vivid and detailed, allowing the reader to fully immerse themselves in the story.

Overall, this is a book that is well worth reading. It is a thought-provoking and engaging work that will stay with you long after you have finished reading it.

“Measure me while I live - after it will be too late.”

This statement sets a rather eerie tone, doesn't it? It makes one wonder about the importance of seizing the moment and not waiting until it's too late. In the context of literature, it can perhaps be applied to the works of authors who leave a lasting impact.

Despite Vladimir Nabokov's protests, Invitation to a Beheading, with its protagonist awaiting execution for an unknown crime at an uncertain date, feels very Kafkaesque. The idea of a character in such a precarious situation, not knowing when their fate will be sealed, is both captivating and unsettling. It draws the reader in and makes them want to know more about the protagonist's journey.

I liked the beginning of this novel as well as a perhaps unexpected ending. The start manages to hook the reader's attention and build anticipation. However, when it comes to comparing it to other Nabokov novels, Invitation to a Beheading didn't have the lyrical virtuosity or the punch that some of his other works possess. There were some interesting perspectives and humor, but for me, it wasn't enough to really make this memorable. I would rate it at 3.25 stars.

...

It is truly astonishing how farcical this book turns out to be, given its rather ominous title. However, it is equally amazing how tragic it becomes when one considers the omnipresent farce that pervades its pages.

Of course, there is no writer more adept at manipulating our emotions than Vladimir Nabokov. In this novel, we are manipulated almost to the same extent as Cincinnatus, the hero. His emotions are unmercifully toyed with, not only by every character in the book but also by the author himself.

Nabokov takes great delight in using vocabulary and phrasing that initially seem perfectly innocent. It is only moments later that the axe drops, and it drops frequently, much like in those curious Russian toys where the bear chops the block repeatedly. It could be a simple remark made to the hero about the slenderness of his neck, or a comment on the odd shadow cast on it by the light. It might be the description of a beautifully sharpened pencil, as long as the life of any man except Cincinnatus, and with an ebony gleam on each of its six facets. Or perhaps it is the mention of the river Strop, which seems to curve like a sickle across the valley. In fact, that curving river is mentioned so often that I looked up the word'strop' and discovered that it is a strip of leather used to sharpen a blade.

Nothing in this book is innocent. Not even Cincinnatus's tendency to suffer from syncope or momentary lapses of consciousness. I wondered about the origin of that word. Oh, right, it means to strike or cut off. And 'cope' sounds like 'Kopf', the German word for 'head'.

Not to mention the jokes the characters like to tell each other. For example, Cincinnatus's brother-in-law, the wit, says to him, 'Take the word "anxiety". Now take away the word "tiny", eh? Comes out funny, doesn't it?'

Cincinnatus's anxiety is actually less about the axe and more about knowing the moment it will fall. As a condemned man (but for what crime we are not told), he feels he has a right to the very thing that is the special privilege of the condemned: knowing the exact moment of death, and therefore how much time he has left.

But everything in the book conspires against that knowledge in the most absurd fashion. The walls, with their arms around each other's shoulders like a foursome discussing a square secret in inaudible whispers. The chairs that move about by themselves. The interchangeable prison director and warden. The child who flits about like a butterfly. The greedy velvet spider with hazel eyes which somehow resembles the prisoner's wife.

And meanwhile, there is the absurdly interfering bong of the prison clock. It strikes eleven times, thinks for a moment, and then strikes once more. Or it strikes some unknown hour, now with banal dreariness, now with mounting exultation, and finally with a hoarse rattle.

Some aspects of this story reminded me of Gogol's The Overcoat or Diary of a Madman. In fact, more than in previous Nabokov works I've read, this book reminded me very much of Russian literature. Gogol's shadow is all around, but also Dostoyevsky's. I frequently thought of Rodion Raskolnikov's room in Crime and Punishment, and of all the strange people coming and going while Rodion lay silent and impervious to their efforts to make him speak. And there just happens to be a character here called Rodion.

Of all the absurdities in the book, not the least absurd is the situation of the reader at the beginning. The first page reads like it should be the last: the death sentence pronounced on the prisoner. What motivation do we have to read on, knowing the outcome in advance? But we do, because, like Cincinnatus, we cannot resist hope.

As for the last page, when I finally got to it, I jumped up and ruffled my hair! I hope Nabokov's ghost is happy.

I have played the piano since I was three years old. Thanks to the encouragement of my family and long hours of practice, I have been fortunate enough to perform at large functions, concerts, and sold-out rock shows in venues that I dreamed of playing at when I was growing up. I have collaborated with truly outstanding musicians and participated in many professional recordings. This has nurtured a lifelong love and appreciation for music within me, and I feel truly blessed to have had these experiences.

However, I have never written a song in my entire life.

I grew up with a passion for writing. As a child, I would spend hours crafting absurd sports and science-fiction stories. I am always engrossed in a book, and my parents encouraged me to read anything I could lay my hands on. I enjoy writing so much that I pursued a college degree in English and Journalism, reporting for newspapers and relishing poetry and creative writing courses. My professional experience consists solely of jobs that require me to produce written content, and I hope it always remains that way. I have wanted to write a novel since I was 10.

But I have not written a single piece of original creative material since I graduated six years ago.

It's not that I haven't tried. One night not too long ago, I secluded myself in a piano studio for hours, armed only with 88 keys, a sheet of blank paper, and a pencil. But all that emerged were things that sounded like songs that had already been written. I have attempted to pen song lyrics, blog posts, short stories - but nothing has escaped the trash can or the delete button.

I just can't seem to do it. I don't know why. It doesn't seem fair. I have such a deep love for the creative arts and have dedicated almost my entire life to practicing them, yet I have nothing to show for it. I am extremely proud of the collaborative work I have done, but I am constantly plagued by the worry that I will never be able to create something on my own. I don't know how many New Year's resolutions I have made along the lines of "THIS year I'll record some songs" or "THIS year I'll try to publish something." But the years continue to pass.

After some reflection, I realize that I am my own worst enemy. I am reluctant to start anything unless it is an idea of such brilliance, a style so original, a thought so unheard of, that it cannot be compared to anything else; something that will completely and utterly express the uniqueness that I (perhaps not so humbly, I admit) believe I possess within myself. So whenever any inspiration strikes, it is almost immediately dismissed as a parody, a copy, or inferior. This has nearly made me give up trying altogether.

And so the years keep passing.

And then I read "Invitation to a Beheading." Cincinnatus C. is arrested and sentenced to death for not conforming, for failing to融入 society. Cincinnatus, who yearns so badly to express himself but cannot do so because no one will tell him how much time he has left, and he doesn't want to begin unless he knows there is sufficient time to express himself properly. And then I read chapter 9:

". . . and in the end the logical thing would be to give up and I would give up if I were laboring for a reader today, but as there is in the world not a single human who can speak my language; or, more simply, not a single human who can speak; or, even more simply, not a single human; I must think only of myself, of that force which urges me to express myself. I repeat: there is something I know, there is something I know, there is something..."

And I wept on the bus.

Although the themes of this novel are not precisely in line with my own experience of writer's block, I couldn't help but be drawn into the desperation of Cincinnatus as the world around him became increasingly crazy and his hopes were continuously dashed until it was almost the end for him.

Almost the end.

And hopefully, like Cincinnatus, I can uncover that something that I know.

Some thoughts can be truly insidious, much like a cancerous tumor. You might think that by expressing it, you can excise it from your mind. However, in some cases, it just grows back even worse than before.

Let's imagine a scenario at the dentist's office. You have a very talkative and slow dentist. He is one of those who answers his phone several times while holding the dental drill over your open, drooling mouth. You are nervously waiting for the torture to commence, fully aware that you have to get the tooth fixed and that there will be pain. Meanwhile, the dentist is chatting with his wife about that night's dinner. All you want is for the inevitable torment to begin so that it can all come to an end.

Now, take that level of anticipation and uncertainty and multiply it by a hundred. Imagine being sentenced to death, but having no idea when the execution will be carried out. Just think about the waiting... the not knowing.

Welcome to Cincinnatus's nightmare! Welcome to his personal hell!

"How long have I left to live? How long have I left to live? How long have I left to live?" These words echo in his mind, driving him to the brink of madness.

We are all sentenced to death right from the start… right at birth. And all our life we wait for an execution which will come, sooner or later…

And instead of the clear and precise work that is needed, instead of a gradual preparation of the soul for that morning when it will have to get up, when – when you, soul, will be offered the executioner’s pail to wash in – Instead, you involuntarily indulge in banal senseless dreams of escape – alas, of escape…

While it may seem at first that Invitation to a Beheading echoes \\n  The Trial\\n by \\n  Franz Kafka\\n, actually this novel is its opposite… And in fact Vladimir Nabokov contemplates the nature of earthly existence…

Everyone is free to turn one’s existence into a gaol and live as a prisoner of conventions or escape conformity and enjoy true inner liberty… In Nabokov's work, he presents a vivid exploration of the human condition. The idea of being sentenced to death from birth makes us realize the brevity and uncertainty of life. We often waste our time on meaningless dreams of escape rather than preparing ourselves for the inevitable. The comparison with Kafka's The Trial shows that while there may be some similarities on the surface, Nabokov's novel takes a different approach. He encourages us to question the conventions that bind us and to seek true freedom within ourselves. By doing so, we can break free from the prison of our own making and live a more fulfilling life.

It’s The House of the Dead meets Monty Python’s blacker moments.

Nabokov wrote this in a fortnight, and although wired to his usual stylistic and linguistic arrogance, the story meanders. It does so in the way an undisciplined half-dream half-real semi-surrealist novel might. It's not quite Dostoevsky, not quite Gogol either.

I also began to mix up Cincinnatus with Ignatius J. Reilly from A Confederacy of Dunces. This wasn't wholly random, as the novels aren't too far off in terms of their dark humour.

This novel withers under the punitive glee Nabokov takes in human suffering. It becomes a swamp of language, fantasy and metaphor in a way that utterly supplants the story. Nice title, though.

The work seems to be a strange concoction, with Nabokov's characteristic style on full display. The meandering nature of the story can be both captivating and frustrating. The comparison to other literary works adds an interesting layer, yet it also shows that this novel has its own unique identity.

The way Nabokov treats human suffering with what appears to be punitive glee gives the work a certain darkness. The excessive use of language, fantasy and metaphor sometimes overshadows the actual narrative. However, the title remains a redeeming feature, perhaps hinting at something deeper within the convoluted text.

Overall, it's a complex and somewhat puzzling piece of literature that invites further exploration and analysis.

Rewriting the review for this book is really difficult, and as an ordinary reader with limited eloquence, I can only try my best to convey to you the personal understanding and experience I had from reading this book.

"Invitation to a Beheading" is among the books that seem very hard to recommend to others. The language of the book was very fresh for me. It is a text full of extremely detailed descriptions. These descriptions are not similar in nature to the descriptions we have in, for example, Zola's naturalism. That is, they are mostly attached to the mental states, dreams, and fantasies of the main character to build his mental world. This not only prevented me from being deprived of the ability to imagine the images and scenes of the book, but also allowed me to immerse myself in the darkness and lights that Nabokov created. The text of the book must be read carefully, word by word. You need to pay 100% attention to understand the text as much as possible.

On the other hand, I found Ahmad Khaza'i's translation in Qatrah Publications insulting. The translator writes before the start of the book: "The translation of this book coincided with the translator's numerous difficulties and therefore has a great distance from the borders of hope." Well, if only you hadn't translated it! (This is the second or third time that I have been hurt by one of my favorite publishers, namely Qatrah!) I haven't read Kafka's "The Trial", but even if I had read it, I wouldn't have compared "Invitation to a Beheading" with "The Trial" for the sake of Nabokov's spiritual joy here! Of course, I can't deny that the situation that Nabokov creates reminds me of the last day of a condemned man like Hugo, the darkness in the afternoon of Koestler, and even the stranger Camus. However, upon reflection, I realized that Cincinnatus' invitation to a beheading, as strange and distant from the mind as its name seems for a Russian novel, is supposed to be special and unique.

Throughout the whole story, we only understand one thing. Cincinnatus makes a difference! Even a precise explanation is never given as to what difference! Cincinnatus is always under physical siege and the presence of another strange person who is present in the story. Another person who is there until the last moment of the story, but can never enter Cincinnatus' mental world.

My question while reading the book was, what exactly is his crime? But it seems that this most indifferent question was for Nabokov and the other characters. No one is waiting for Cincinnatus to do anything. There is no news of a pardon or pressure. Even his family does not behave like the family of any of the condemned prisoners. (Maybe a bit spoiled later) Even in the last moments, his desperate request from his beloved is only that at least for a moment her heart can feel for him and she can behave in the way that anyone should behave in this situation! He states and writes in the letter in such a way that this cry will break the ears of the deaf that I am dying. I am going to be killed!

This book scared me a little. This indifference of people towards an event that is taking place. The celebration and revelry in the city square and the horrible beheading ceremony. Another point was that the beheading ceremony was our first encounter with the outside world outside the cell. The name of the executioner who was supposed to be revealed in the execution ceremony of Cincinnatus was ridiculously insulting.

The laughing Socrates executioners must be reduced! That is, Nabokov is telling us that Cincinnatus' crime is interrogation? The book was full of symbols and metaphors. Metaphors that understanding them makes you get much more pleasure from the book, and I became aware of them thanks to reading with like-minded friends. On the other hand, Nabokov has a lot of historical references in the text, but not in such a way that the book belongs to a specific era. This, in my opinion, is also a sign of Nabokov's wisdom that he does not want to limit his story to a specific period.

The conclusion and the last three parts of the book were the most enjoyable part of the book for me and removed the boredom and fatigue of the middle of the book and made me go from 3/5 to 4.

Did I just rate a Nabokov book with three stars? Yes I did. As much as he is my literary love and gets all of my gears going whenever I read his English works, the Russian ones don't impress me as much. I might be biased to the sound and feel of an English-based story, but his writing in them is smoother and better tuned to his characters and settings.

"Invitation to a Beheading" is still very much worth reading. It tells the story of a man condemned to death, without being told when his execution is going to be and having to wake up every day not knowing if it was going to be his last. This premise alone is enough to grip the reader and keep them on the edge of their seat.

However, compared to other Nabokov works, such as "Lolita" (points excitedly towards Lolita, sitting in a corner), it fades. "Lolita" is a masterpiece that explores themes of love, obsession, and morality in a way that is both beautiful and disturbing. The writing is exquisite, and the characters are complex and unforgettable.

In conclusion, while "Invitation to a Beheading" is a good book, it doesn't quite reach the heights of Nabokov's other works. It is still worth reading for fans of his writing, but it may not be the best place to start for those new to his work.

A complex, allegorical, and existentialist work of fiction, "Invitation to a Beheading" is a literary masterpiece that demands multiple readings to fully understand the depth of Nabokov's message.

It is interesting to note that Nabokov himself insisted that this is not a political piece, despite the fact that it is set in Russia around the year 3000. Thematically, the novel explores the concepts of nonconformity, individuality, and the difficulty of predicting and understanding others.

The main character, Cincinnatus C., is condemned to death for his "crime" of being different. The author takes a personal approach, delving into the soul and the individual rather than focusing on totalitarian rule or the harshness of the law.

In fact, the world around Cincinnatus is filled with absurdism and a touch of comedy. However, the popular comparisons to Kafka's works are not entirely fair. While there may be some surface-level similarities, a deeper examination reveals that "Invitation to a Beheading" has a different focus and meaning.

To ensure that I am not misinterpreting the novel, I plan to revisit Kafka's "The Trial" and compare the two works more closely.