内容简介
TheGiftisthelastofthenovelsNabokovwroteinhisnativeRussianandthecrowningachievementofthatperiodinhisliterarycareer.ItisalsohisodetoRussianliterature，evokingtheworksofPushkin，Gogol，andothersinthecourseofitsnarrative：thestoryofFyodorGodunov-Cherdyntsev，animpoverishedemigrepoetlivinginBerlin，whodreamsofthebookhewillsomedaywrite--abookverymuchlikeTheGiftitself.
作者简介
VladimirVladimirovichNabokovwasbornonApril23,1899,inSt.Petersburg,Russia.TheNabokovswereknownfortheirhighcultureandcommitmenttopublicservice,andtheelderNabokovwasanoutspokenopponentofantisemitismandoneoftheleadersoftheoppositionparty,theKadets.In1919,followingtheBolshevikrevolution,hetookhisfamilyintoexile.FouryearslaterhewasshotandkilledatapoliticalrallyinBerlinwhiletryingtoshieldthespeakerfromright-wingassassins.TheNabokovhouseholdwastrilingual,andasachildNabokovwasalreadyreadingWells,Poe,Browning,Keats,Flaubert,Verlaine,Rimbaud,Tolstoy,andChekhov,alongsidethepopularentertainmentsofSirArthurConanDoyleandJulesVerne.Asayoungman,hestudiedSlavicandromancelanguagesatTrinityCollege,Cambridge,takinghishonorsdegreein1922.ForthenexteighteenyearshelivedinBerlinandParis,writingprolificallyinRussianunderthepseudonymSirinandsupportinghimselfthroughtranslations,lessonsinEnglishandtennis,andbycomposingthefirstcrosswordpuzzlesinRussian.In1925hemarriedVeraSlonim,withwhomhehadonechild,ason,Dmitri.HavingalreadyfledRussiaandGermany,Nabokovbecamearefugeeoncemorein1940,whenhewasforcedtoleaveFrancefortheUnitedStates.TherehetaughtatWellesley,Harvard,andCornell.HealsogaveupwritinginRussianandbegancomposingfictioninEnglish.InhisafterwordtoLolitaheclaimed:"Myprivatetragedy,whichcannot,andindeedshouldnot,beanybody'sconcern,isthatIhadtoabandonmynaturalidiom,myuntrammeled,rich,andinfinitelydocileRussiantongueforasecond-ratebrandofEnglish,devoidofanyofthoseapparatuses--thebafflingmirror,theblackvelvetbackdrop,theimpliedassociationsandtraditions--whichthenativeillusionist,frac-tailsflying,canmagicallyusetotranscendtheheritageinhisownway."[p.317]YetNabokov'sAmericanperiodsawthecreationofwhatarearguablyhisgreatestworks,BendSinister(1947),Lolita(1955),Pnin(1957),andPaleFire(1962),aswellasthetranslationofhisearlierRussiannovelsintoEnglish.HealsoundertookEnglishtranslationsofworksbyLermontovandPushkinandwroteseveralbooksofcriticism.VladimirNabokovdiedinMontreux,Switzerland,in1977.,,
