When Vladimir Nabokov’s translation of Pushkin’s masterpiece Eugene Onegin was first published in 1964, it ignited a storm of controversy that famously resulted in the demise of Nabokov’s friendship with critic Edmund Wilson. While Wilson derided it as a disappointment in the New York Review of Books, other critics hailed the translation and accompanying commentary as Nabokov’s highest achievement. Nabokov himself strove to render a literal translation that captured ‘the exact contextual meaning of the original, ‘ arguing that, ‘only this is true translation.’ Nabokov’s Eugene Onegin remains the most famous and frequently cited English-language version of the most celebrated poem in Russian literature, a translation that reflects a lifelong admiration of Pushkin on the part of one of the twentieth century’s most brilliant writers. Now with a new foreword by Nabokov biographer Brian Boyd, this edition brings a classic work of enduring literary interest to a new generation of readers.
عن المؤلف
Vladimir Nabokov (1899–1977) was a Russian-American writer known for his unique blend of erudition and playfulness. His novels in English includeLolita,
Pale Fire, and
Ada. He also wrote poetry, short stories, translations from Russian, and a memoir,
Speak, Memory.
Brian Boyd is professor of literature at the University of Auckland. He is the author of
Vladimir Nabokov: The Russian Years and
Vladimir Nabokov: The American Years (both Princeton).