Vladimir Nabokov

Wood, Michael. The Afterlife of Sebastian Knight. 2010

Author(s)
Bibliographic title
The Afterlife of Sebastian Knight
Periodical or collection
Revising Nabokov Revising: Proceedings of the International Nabokov Conference
Page(s)
192-200
Publication year
Abstract
Michael Wood analyzes the structure of inquiry Nabokov establishes in The Real Life of Sebastian Knight, and pursued its recurrence in some detail through his later novels and stories. He also wondered whether the notion of the ‘original’ of Laura may not be designed precisely to recall the ‘real life’ Sebastian Knight may or not have. The point is not to suggest that The Real Life of Sebastian Knight is a source or model for Nabokov's later work; only that it provides a distinctive theoretical framework through which much of that work may usefully be seen.