Ada, or Ardor: A Family Chronicle (Vintage International)

I need to clear up something in regards to Nabokov and then present a different kind of Nabokov review that will be from an unfiltered point of view.What I mean by unfiltered is, leaving out any remarks as seen through the Lolita filter as if Lolita is his ultimate work everything else less than.I will compare the two in relation to how a controversial theme is used to fool you into a deep examination of different human conditions.It seems like the common trend with amazon reviewers in relation to Nabokov's books is to immediately compare it to Lolita. This is like beginning an essay with a negation of the main thesis.I will not compare this to Lolita, but will include Lolita as a reaction to why Nabokov used another provocative theme.The big misunderstanding of Lolita and the main important context of Ada, is these books are not about the controversial themes but maneuver within the provocative context as a literary technique. Here we are treated to philosophical technique that begs the attention of the reader and separate themselves into 2 categories: a. the reader looking for a controversial story that remains that way on the surface as well as within. b. the reader that knows Nabokov is constantly challenging you with multilayered concepts, and the controversial elements are probably not to be focused on, and are essentially anagrams in the same way actual word anagrams are used in many of Nabokov books.You are falling for Nabokov's dark humor if you believe Ada is about incest just like you are being duped if you believe Lolita is about a pedophile.Being that Lolita became a cultural phenomenon for all of the wrong reasons Ada does have a main theme that is constantly commenting on what a work of art can do if placed in a category that showcases it in the wrong light.In Ada the characters are living in a world called Terra, where many things are similar to our world but drastically different. This concept is eerily similar to modern physics theories such as Brane theory. There is an anti Terra realm that is identical to this concept leaving a comical interpretation open to suggesting that anti Terra may be out world or possible a Brane slice.The hidden joke here is it is never totally implied that incest is wrong. Being that the main characters are from a privileged background you get to see the intricately complex and comedic ways in which anti Terra compares to ours.Here Nabokov creates a huge canvass to mix fantasy with reality, as well as take the reader on a crash course in academic literature as well as philosophy of time wile constantly joking about the differences in the two realities.The theme of incest feels almost like an invisible fence that locks out readers who will not understand. He makes the first 40 pages extremely challenging in a way that feels again like a security devise that real Nabokov fans should recognize.(i read the first 40 pages 3 times) After Pale Fire Nabokov set in stone that he is not your normal author and at times especially with his later works your getting into a multidimensional reading experience. With Ada he literally installs a double secure security device to keep the wrong people out and apparently it worked, because you do not here about this masterwork alongside say Lolita or Pale Fire.Ada is not about sex or incest its's, i feel a bittersweet and compassionate experiment about memory being one of the best tools to mental paradise humans have. The story is about the passing of time and the importance of family and loved ones. It is also a seriously affectionate and compassionate love story. The story of Van and Ada is one of the great romances in literature because it has a bittersweet honesty that can be very useful to people as a very effective work of art. More than anything this is a beautiful observation of time and the attempt to capture the beauty of youth as well as create a therapeutic way to get through life by using constant mnemonic ques or written forms to always remind yourself of better times. There is something very serious going on here among the humor. I feel the Terra concept is the ultimate way of deconstructing learned mores and linguistics as well as our common socioeconomic climates to ask very important questions--What is a taboo and why is a taboo a taboo? And ultimately what is a book and the purpose of serious literature.I think Nabokov was bothered by the reaction to Lolita and Ada is like him attempting to probe into similar ground without accidentally catering to a predominantly commercial mindset due to subject matter outshining the inner artistic point.Ada is an important and therapeutic experience that will help you through life if you let it. The first thing you hear or read about in relation to this book is incest. The main character has a very beautiful love affair with his sister that spans a lifetime and remember being that Terra differs from our world in extreme ways the morals and socioeconomic climate is not defined well enough to let the reader know the extent of incest as a taboo. Vans story is a wake up call in one sense for people to not let go of their true love-life is short. Ada also resembles the timeless struggle that men or women go through in not wanting the fire of a romance to burn out and the fear of becoming dull.I feel the sexual content in this one is a sarcastic way of commenting on the people who misunderstood Lolita.Lolita proposed a question of what happens when an otherwise brilliant person --Humbert--has a social disease that that makes him viewed in society as a pillar while underneath the surface he falls into the category of a monster--Lolita is also about accountability for mental illness and what defines mental illness-and most importantly what happens when you put 2 people together that both have character defects to the extent of being a mental issue. Who is to blame--and how do we deal with these people because they are still human beings and are weak.In ada the sex scenes are actually described rather than poetically suggested. This again is to throw you off. I will take a break here and finish this review later.

This tragic story of love and obsession is written as if it is the true life memoir of fictional character Van Veen. V.V. is a Russian-American aristocrat born to extreme wealth in the late 1800's on a fictional world called Antiterra. Antiterra is almost identical to Earth, except for minor details, such as the place names are different and some conveniences such as airplanes, telephones, and motion pictures were in existence as early as 1884.That fateful year of 1884 provides the novel with its chief building block. Our narrator spent that summer, his 15th, at his aunt's summer house, Ardis, where he and his 12 year old cousin Ada Veen ended up falling in love with the mad insatiable passion that is typical for teenagers. Shortly after falling in love, though, the pair learns that due to a much more complex family tree than either initially realized, they are actually brother and sister casting a tragic shadow over their intoxicating relationship.These facts are presented to us, although obscurely, within the first 30 pages of the 589 page book, so don't think that I have just given away any key plot points here. In fact, this novel is all about Van and Ada's refusal (or inability) to ever grow out of their idyllic, though incestuous, summertime romance. The summer of 1884 grows to haunt the rest of their lives, and this book for the most part is the story of that haunting.The story is remarkable and for those who end up getting emotionally involved in the story, it is the type of novel that will seep into your soul unlike just about any book you may ever read. Unfortunately, a highly complex writing style is likely to act a a very major hurdle that will prevent a lot of people from ever getting through the book. Nabokov fills his novel with many extremely long sentences, complex parentheticals, and a sometimes confusing chronological structure. If you aren't ready to pay attention to what you are reading, then this book is likely to simply confuse you to the point of frustration.Personally, I read this book while on a week-long beach vacation in Hawaii. It was the perfect setting, because my mind was gloriously free of distraction and I was able to spend the time necessary to digest what I was reading. Being on a beach, however, meant that I was not able to look up every single odd word I came across or investigate all the literary allusions the author included in the book. If you are reading about this book, you are sure to learn that the book is extremely dense with such allusions. I am happy to report that one need not get bogged down with tracking down such literary references in order to appreciate this book.To find out if the book is right for you, luckily, you only really have to read the first 3 or 4 chapters. The first chapter is typical of the author's densest most complex style. It is a great first chapter, but it will likely take much time and effort to fully comprehend. The second and third chapters are a bit more straightforward and are a very good representation of how most of the rest of the book reads. In my case, after reading the first chapter, I was drawn in because it was exactly the kind of complex writing I was looking for.There is a lot of French and Russian used throughout the book. In the Vintage paperback edition, there are helpful end notes that provide translations for most of the crucial foreign language passages. I found my knowledge of French to be quite helpful, though, because a lot of the incidental French is not translated. Luckily almost all the Russian in the book is translated in the text itself, so those passages ultimately are not a problem at all.Suffice it to say that this book is filled with literary wordplay and many puzzles to solve. If that is your cup of tea, then you are likely to love this book. Even if you do not pursue answers to all the literary puzzles presented in the book, you can still be rewarded with an emotionally complex epic tale that at the very least is going to provide you with some very serious food for thought.If you are like me, however, this book will also provide you with one of the most moving and emotionally harrowing stories you may ever come across. I can't remember feeling so satisfied after finishing a book, nor can I ever remembering finishing a book so ready to re-read it. I recommend it highly.

Oh god, how to describe Ada? It's kind of like a classical Russian novel, except it's actually multiple layers of narrative and in-universe commentary about the lifelong and torrid love affair between a brother and sister, who are also child geniuses who speak 3-4 languages and discuss esoteric literary topics, entomology, their own private formalisms for cataloging emotional experiences, and various other academic and political topics. Oh and did I mention it's actually a sci-fi set on a twin planet to ours called Antiterra, wherein electricity was banned and they only have less efficient "hydro" systems, and for some reason millions of people on this planet have the collective dream or hallucination of our world ''Terra." Also there are flying carpets. But just casually. They don't tell you any of this, they just refer to places you've never heard of and machines that you have also never heard of, but not often enough to actually make it seem at all like science fiction. These elements are not really central to the plot, they're more like wallpaper, but very intricately designed wallpaper.This book does not explain itself to the reader; instead it respects you to figure things out, which you may or may not be able to -- but it does get easier once you get the hang of it. In places it has echoes of Joyce, is somewhat reminiscent of Tolstoy, but in the end is something altogether quite different. The writing is equal parts beautiful, sexy, and horrifying. I give it a 10/10, not sure who I could in good conscience recommend this book to though XD

Some great writing here – it's Nabokov – but it feels like he was trying to do something that didn't work out. It lacks the creative fire and narrative drive of his other great works.

Nabokov is undoubtedly an incredible near-genius writer, and this is an excellent and interesting novel, but something about his work always leaves me feeling cold. In addition, with about 100 pages to go, this book deteriorates in an irritating postmodern way as if, all along, he didn't really have any poignant point to make and was just showing off his intellectual prowess.

Beautiful story and Wonderfully written.

A late and ample expression of Nabokov’s genius, with more warmth — even self-indulgence? — in his characteristic wit, coloured as that is by amusement and despair.

l'histoire est un peu lente et peut être désuète le récit un peu décousu mais ce livre est indispensable pour bien apprendre l'anglais(américain) le style est vraiment"surprenant" tellement originalun vocabulaire très très riche on ne trouve pas tous les mots dans le dictionnaire même en utilisant le grand dictionnaire larousse anglais-français peut-être le plus complet bilingue actuellement souvent le sens du mot est celui qui est à la fin de l'article, l'auteur utilise beaucoup d'expressions idiomatiques (s'aider de la traduction du livre,bien qu'elle ne semble pas vraiment fidèle et peut-être plutôt une interprétation) ou bien on peut s'aider du grand dictionnaire Webster's-meriamen tout cas celui qui lit le livre et comprend tous les mots sans s'aider du dictionnaire est vraiment très fort en anglais