Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0000202, Mon, 7 Feb 1994 11:57:13 -0800

Subject
VN & Bitov
Date
Body
I have just been reading Ellen Chances' new book on Andrei Bitov just
published by Cambridge UP at a cool $70. Several critics, not without
reason, have called Bitov "Nabokovian". Chances makes several specific
references to Nabokovian influences, especially (and very aptly) in
Bitov's chef d'oeuvre _Pushkin House_. She notes, in particular,
structural parallels (circular patterning) between _The Gift_ and _Pushkin
House_. Perhaps, most interestingly, she notes that Bitov read all of VN
in English and Russian during the years he was working on Pushkin House.
_Pushkin House_ is probably the richest treasure hoard of literary
allusion in Russian literature--even more so than _The Gift_, I'd venture.
A closer look at VN in _Pushkin House_ might be a rewarding topic to
investigation. DBJ