In the foreword, Nabokov ponders an interesting question: why does each new book of his send reviewers scurrying in search of celebrated names for the purpose of passionate comparison?

It's a phenomenon that has led many to draw similarities between this work and Kafka's The Trial. So much so that Nabokov feels compelled to assert that he had never read Kafka when he was writing Invitation.

Just like Nabokov's critics, I couldn't help but think of other works that seem to invite such passionate comparison.

The opening pages of this book make it clear that Cincinnatus C. inhabits an Absurdist's world. In fact, I would say it's more like Sartre's Nausea, especially towards the end.

The judge whispers the sentence into his ear, the jailer dances a waltz with him, and the prosecutor and defense lawyer are required by law to be uterine brothers and can only speak 5,000 words each.

There are also surrealist moments evocative of "An Occurrence at Owl Creek Bridge" that pepper even the early chapters.

Although the exact nature of the narrative world is never fully revealed, there are enough passing details to suggest that it's an idyllic utopia.

Like most utopian novels, the protagonist is different. He has a certain peculiarity - he's impervious to the rays of others, which gives him a bizarre impression when off his guard.

However, unlike utopian novels, the setting remains relatively unimportant, and even the protagonist's crime is ambiguous at best. His only crime seems to be that he is alive.

Cincinnatus struggles to fully realize and express the nature of the real world, which he intuits is very different from the parody world he inhabits.

His struggle is the struggle of any writer - to share his unique perspective of the world with the masses.

Like so many people who feel they have the ability to achieve greatness, time and mortality are his biggest enemies.

Without knowing the exact date of his execution, he can't be sure if he has enough time to fulfill his ultimate life goals.

In the end, we are all like Cincinnatus, condemned to die one day, with no way to know when our time will come.

“Execution Dock” is defined as a significant event in literature in terms of its richness in words, description of sensations, and selflessness (i.e. antimatter, hehe). However, this performance is dangerous in a certain sense. For a person, the world is literally turned upside down and he loses his niche (maybe today I'm just distracted). But the story is tragicomic and filled with absurdities that evoke great pity for the cells of Cincinnati. He, however, remains himself until the end, that is, accused, which makes him very brave despite the fear of the upcoming beheading.

Somehow I wish the novel was a little more defended, then I would rate it with 5 stars.

I was invited to a hanging ceremony. The invitation was in the form of a coffin, and the words were written in blood. The human hanging ceremony was different, and soon it would bear a resemblance to our death. The field was decorated with spider webs, and the people were joyfully celebrating all over it. One less human. Human. Has this word ever had any meaning? Does it matter that one fears death or that one flies towards it?

I was invited to a hanging ceremony. The people were wearing bright clothes. They were talking about a man who was going to justice, but he didn't have a specific crime. I looked up at the sky, and the clouds were gently flowing down from the waterfall. I felt a sense of dizziness.

The crazy counting of moments until death, although it may seem useless, opens the way for a journey that we will never be able to imagine. It's always like this. We give up everything, and what is hidden behind the curtain and in the darkness is always what we are attached to and what we are attached to. It's always like this. I was invited to a hanging ceremony. Without thinking, I accepted the invitation. But something in my attire was different from the others. I don't know. Maybe I was also just one among them, one among the unknowns. They ask me if I regret accepting this invitation? Never.

P.S. The rhyme of the invitation letter helped a lot in reading it. I suggest that if you are invited to such a ceremony, have some friends among the people.