Vladimir Nabokov is an extraordinary and curious author, originally from Russia. Although he was forced to write English for most of his life, he never forgot his homeland. One of Nabokov’s rather little-known novels, “The Feat,” the short content of which can be described with the words “a journey along the path of overcoming fear,” at one time made a deep impression on readers. And not in vain: a lot of references to other works of contemporaries and originality intertwined in a truly interesting and exciting work.
Author’s childhood
Writer, literary critic, translator and entomologist Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov is a great writer, nominee for the Nobel Prize in literature. Vladimir was born in an intelligent family on April 10, 1899. From early childhood he was raised in three languages - Russian, English and French. Thus, the future writer perfectly mastered all three languages.
The first years of Vladimir’s life were spent in comfort and prosperity in St. Petersburg, on Bolshaya Morskaya embankment, as well as in a suburban family estate near Gatchina, which was called Batovo.
He was educated at the Tenishevsky School of St. Petersburg - Osip Mandelstamp once studied there. In the process of studying, Vladimir is fond of literature and entomology.
Berlin period
Shortly before the events of the revolution, Nabokov publishes a collection of his poems with his own money. The 1917 revolution forced the Nabokov family to move to Crimea, and two years later to flee Russia. The family managed to take some of the values with them, thanks to which they lived for the first time in Berlin. At this time, Vladimir studied in Cambridge, where he continued to write poetry in Russian. Also, young Nabokov was translating into Russian "Alice in Wonderland" by Lewis Carroll.
In 1922, the family was shocked by the murder of the father of the family - Vladimir Dmitrievich Nabokov. This takes place in the building of the Berlin Philharmonic: he made an attempt to neutralize the radical who shot Miliukov, but was shot dead by his partner.
Starting this year, Vladimir Nabokov moved to Berlin and became a part of the Russian diaspora, earning as a teacher: he gave lessons in English. Then, with the help of Russian emigrants, Nabokov published his stories in Berlin newspapers and magazines.
The year 1927 was marked by the wedding of Nabokov on Vera Slonim, as well as the publication of his first novel, Mashenka.
Until 1937, Nabokov published 8 novels in Russian, including The Feat. With each work, the author complicates his literary style and experimentes with form, presentation, content. Although the works of Nabokov were not published in Russia, they were successful with the Russian emigration and to this day are considered masterpieces of Russian literature.
Emigration to the USA
In the late 30s, the policy of the Nazi authorities put an end to the Russian diaspora, so the Nabokovs left for Paris, and with the outbreak of World War II they emigrated to the United States. With the disappearance of the Russian-speaking public, Nabokov is forced to write in English. So he writes his first novel in English - “The Real Life of Sebastian Knight” - and never publishes works in Russian again, except for the autobiography and the author's translation of “Lolita”.
Since his English-language novels did not have much success, Nabokov is deeply interested in entomology. Traveling around America on vacation, he works on Lolita. The controversial topic of the novel threatened its publication, however, the author was able to find a publisher that helped the novel go public and further bring the writer worldwide fame.
Return to Europe
Since the 1960s, Nabokov has returned to Europe and lives in Switzerland, where he writes his latest works, such as Ada and Pale Flame. In 1977, Vladimir dies of a bronchial infection. “Laura and her original” is the writer’s last unfinished novel, which was published posthumously in defiance of Nabokov’s will to destroy the manuscript.
"Feat"
The novel "Feat" Nabokov wrote in the Berlin period of his life, in the 1930s. The work was created in Russian and only in 1971 was translated into English and sent to print. The summary of Nabokov’s “Feat” is that a young man named Martyn Edelweiss finds himself in a foreign land, becoming an emigrant. The hero’s life leads him throughout Europe, which partly coincides with the author’s own travels. The novel helps to recall the original meaning of the word “feat” - wandering, movement. Martyn will visit Greece, France, Switzerland, England, and Germany: he will seek himself everywhere, trying various activities, playing sports, meeting love, and generally exploring his own inner world. The theme of the novel is overcoming fear, as well as bliss from this event.
Mason Inspiration
In 1929, the movie "Four Feathers" based on the novel by A. Mason was released. This picture is considered the last significant achievement of American silent cinema. In Germany, she appeared just at the time when Vladimir Nabokov worked on the “Feat”, a photo of which is presented in the article. The writer often went to the cinema, so it is possible that he attended this show, the central theme of the show of which was the overcoming of fear. According to the plot of the film, Harry Feversham, born in a military family, from childhood knew that he was destined to have the same fate as his parents. But his impressionable temper is hardly combined with a military career. In order not to prove himself a coward during the hostilities, he resigns at the moment when his regiment must go on a difficult and risky expedition to Sudan. His decision entailed terrible consequences: Harry receives four white feathers: three from his colleagues and one from his bride who left him - a shameful sign of cowardice. From this moment, the life of Fivershem is turning around: now he intends to restore the lost honor and pride, overcoming his own fears.
Perhaps this work influenced the writing of "Feat." Nabokov drew attention to A. Mason, apparently, in contrast to the fashionable Konrad at that time, which Soviet writers began to imitate then. Nabokov, however, was close to other topics.
Comparison of the Feat and the Four Feathers
Many details from the youth of the hero of the Feat of Nabokov, Martyn Edelweiss, echoes the details of the life of the Englishman Harry with a detailed analysis. They were both not too attached to their father and, by their character, were more like a mother. A military theme is connected with their fathers: Harry's dad was a general, and Martin's father owned a collection of weapons. A detailed analysis of Nabokov’s “Feat” and Mason’s “Four Feathers” shows that the mothers of the characters symbolize a delicate, sensitive nature, imagination and emotions. Martyn’s mother was even an Englishwoman: she often talked about Kipling and scouts, about raising children according to the British model. At the same time, the memoirs of Father Harry about the Crimean War play a significant role in Mason's book. For him, this is an endless topic, a reminder of the heroic deeds of his youth. Tales of exploits, fear, risk, and death have largely influenced Harry's character development. In the “Feat” of Nabokov, Martyn finds the Civil War in Crimea: the paradise of his childhood is collapsing before his eyes, which turns his life and worldview.
Received "in inheritance" of the rich imagination of Beaverchem becomes his cross. In vivid colors, he imagines how he can disgrace himself in battle, let his comrades and father down, and also upset his bride, why he resigns. The author skips through the whole work on the subject of juxtaposing courageous, executive, but unreasoning people, such as Harry's ancestors, to a sophisticated, albeit somewhat neurotic, character, sensual, inventive, timid, but at the same time able to show courage and ingenuity at the right time.
The “Feat” of the author Vladimir Nabokov is a novel about the development of character, about growing up and self-education. In his work, no one accuses Martyn Edelweiss of cowardice, unlike the novel by A. Mason. The character of the character surprisingly combines a craving for risky acts and a fear of being branded a coward. There is no innate composure in him, but he observes himself, as if from the side, noticing his shortcomings and signs of cowardice.
The character of the English novel loses his career and bride only for the reason that he considers himself a coward. Harry's friend consoles him, referring to Hamlet, who was unshakable at a crucial moment, despite his previous doubts. In Nabokov’s “Feat”, the Shakespearean theme unfolds somewhat differently. In addition to an almost imperceptibly plot allusion to “Hamlet” - the hero’s mother marries the brother of her ex-husband - she also shows through Edelweiss’s guilt to her father. Martyn believes that he did not love him enough, while he experiences a tormenting dislike for his stepfather and offense against his mother.
An analysis of the book “Feat” by the author Vladimir Nabokov also notes the connection with the “Four Feathers” regarding the topic of rivalry between friends. For Nabokov, this is the plot line of Darwin, who falls in love with Sonya, while Martin himself has hopelessly and long been in love with her. In Mason, this motive has a complex plot, ending with a noble self-denial: a friend of the protagonist named Durrance gives up his hopes for the reciprocal feelings of ex-bride Harry. Martyn, in turn, stands up for his friend, who rejected Sonya, but not too persistently: there is a limit to nobility.
Mason's influence on other works of the author
One of the episodes of Mason’s novel echoed in Nabokov’s next work, Obscura Camera. The heroine of the novel "Four Feathers" named Etne meets with a fellow Harry. They meet in the garden outside the fence, and then Durrance, suddenly blinded in Sudan, appears, for whom Etne selflessly promised to marry. A blind woman calls her lover, but she does not answer, hiding her presence and her interlocutor. In Mason, the heroine’s act is motivated by noble impulses of the soul, while in Nabokov this situation will be played out in the spirit of a hard grotesque: lovers will enjoy each other, deceiving the naive blind man.
The influence of Lermontov
Also, when analyzing Nabokov's “Feat”, one can notice the influence of Lermontov. Turning to the night scene in the Crimea, when a teenager with a revolver stopped a teenager, one can notice the eloquent phrase “at the turn of a narrow rocky road”. In the comments to the novel, the author of the book “Feat” Vladimir Nabokov himself pointed to Lermontov’s poem “I Will Go Alone on the Road ...”, this became a kind of reference to the writer's work. However, the whole episode plays out the Lermontov motif of the episode about the death of Vulich in the work “Hero of Our Time”. Pechorin, returning home in the night, nearly fell, tripping over something soft. It turns out to be a chopped carcass of a pig. What follows is the story of Vulich about a meeting with a drunk Cossack who chopped up a pig. He walked alone along a dark street, when suddenly a drunk Cossack ran into him. Perhaps he would have passed by without even noticing Vulich, but he spoke to him: “Whom are you looking for, brother?” Exclaiming “You!”, The Cossack attacks him with a saber and kills.
Martyn, returning home from Adreiz, like Pechorin "came back to the empty alleys of the village", he hears a call to him in the silence of the night. This turns out to be a man with a revolver, who tells him to stand against the wall. Martyn, experiencing excruciating fear, goes forward, covering his heart with his palm, and trips over a man’s leg, just as Pechorin tripped over a pig’s carcass. It turns out that there was no danger: the man was sitting with his head down and snoring slightly, it smelled of alcohol. Such an allusion to a drunken Cossack killer in the form of a jester drunk with a revolver, which simultaneously plays the role of a Cossack killer and a pig, is a deep and accurate move in the literary plan.
This is not the only example of the introduction of Lermontov reminiscences into Nabokov’s “Feat”. In Lermontov, the hero is alien to this world, his wanderings are interpreted as a tragic fate, which the character, however, chooses on his own. Nabokov, on the other hand, is shifted from a moral perspective: for him, the word “exile” becomes “the sweetest sound”. Spiritual loneliness received a new value, special significance.
Lermontov focuses on the sad gap between the hero and the world, while the alienation of the heroes of Nabokov does not prevent them from enjoying the surrounding, albeit alien world. Martyn, being a lost wanderer, is alone in a wonderful world that remains indifferent to him, but this brings him satisfaction, not sadness.
Martyn is experiencing his courage in the Swiss mountains, where he nearly dies, slipping off a cliff. This danger seems to him more tangible than that which he experienced in Crimea, and he is proud of it. But over time, thoughts come to him, could he repeat this voluntarily, accomplish a feat not by chance, but intentionally? Martyn returns to the cliff, but does not dare to step on it. However, before setting off on a long expedition, the hero decides to “pay his conscience” and walks along a dangerous ledge. The description of the rock again gives a reference to the work of Lermontov, recalling the place of the duel and the trial of the fate of the characters in “Hero of Our Time”.
Reviews
The book was warmly received by readers. Reviews on Nabokov’s “Feat” have always been mostly positive, although this work was not as famous as some of his other works. Many people call this work one of the author’s most powerful stories, as it resonates in almost every soul. The reviews and analysis of Vladimir Nabokov’s “Feat” are distinguished by their depth of consideration and subtlety of perception: the very specifics of the author's literary style imply subtle spiritual fluctuations, the book cannot be understood to the end without thinking about every word and the slightest action of the action heroes.
The deep story of growing up, overcoming oneself and one’s fears found a response in the hearts of many readers of that time and remains relevant to this day. The novel became largely autobiographical: so many years of wandering and spiritual searches inspired the author primarily to create this work, and only then he was motivated by other works of great writers. In this case, the author’s biography is inseparable from his work, since he himself retained his own memories in binding, immortalizing them in history.