The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov explained

Author:Vladimir Nabokov
Translator:Dmitri Nabokov et al.
Country:United States
Language:English
Publisher:Alfred A. Knopf
Pub Date:24 October 1995
Media Type:Print
Pages:659
Isbn:9780394586151
Oclc:32780442
Dewey:813.54—dc20 95-23466
Congress:PS3527.A15A6 1995

The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov (in some British editions, The Collected Stories) is a posthumous collection of every known short story that Vladimir Nabokov ever wrote, with the exception of "The Enchanter". In the current printing of this work, sixteen stories not previously published in English are translated by the author's son, Dmitri Nabokov. The collection was first published in America by Alfred A. Knopf in 1995.

As initially published, the collection included 65 stories. Nabokov's first collection of short stories, Nabokov's Dozen, contained thirteen total stories, which made for the structure of all of his subsequent collections, four in his lifetime. In the introduction to the collection, Dmitri Nabokov explains that the newly translated stories were to be his father's final collection.[1] The stories are presented in as close to chronological order as they were able to piece together.

Three additional stories were discovered and translated after the first printing of this collection. They were incorporated in later printings of the U.S. paperback edition and in later printings of the hardback and paperback British editions of this work.[2] It's also worth noting that the eighth part of the story "The Potato Elf" was accidentally omitted from the first five printings of the hardcover edition of this book.

List of stories

English title Original language Original publication Original English collection
"The Wood-Sprite" Russian Rul (1921) -
"Russian Spoken Here" Russian - (composed 1923) -
"Sounds" Russian The New Yorker (1995; composed 1923) -
"Wingstroke" Russian Russkoye Ekho (1924) -
"Gods" Russian (composed 1923) -
"A Matter of Chance" Russian Segodnya (1924) Tyrants Destroyed and Other Stories (1974)
"The Seaport" Russian Rul (1924) -
"Revenge" Russian Russkoye Ekho (1924) -
"Beneficence" Russian Rul (1924) -
"Details of a Sunset" Russian Segodnya (1924) Details of a Sunset and Other Stories (1976)
"The Thunderstorm" Russian Rul (1924) Details of a Sunset and Other Stories (1976)
"La Veneziana" Russian (composed 1924) -
"Bachmann" Russian Rul (1924) Tyrants Destroyed and Other Stories (1974)
"The Dragon" Russian (composed 1924) -
"Christmas" Russian Rul (1925) Details of a Sunset and Other Stories (1976)
"A Letter That Never Reached Russia" Russian Rul (1925) Details of a Sunset and Other Stories (1976)
"The Fight" Russian Rul (1925) -
"The Return of Chorb" Russian Rul (1925) Details of a Sunset and Other Stories (1976)
"A Guide to Berlin" Russian Rul (1925) Details of a Sunset and Other Stories (1976)
"A Nursery Tale" Russian Rul (1926) Tyrants Destroyed and Other Stories (1974)
"Terror" Russian Sovremennya Zapiski (1927) Tyrants Destroyed and Other Stories (1974)
"Razor" Russian Rul (1926) -
"The Passenger" Russian Rul (1927) Details of a Sunset and Other Stories (1976)
"The Doorbell" Russian Rul (1927) Details of a Sunset and Other Stories (1976)
"An Affair of Honor" Russian Rul (1927) A Russian Beauty and Other Stories (1973)
"The Christmas Story" Russian Rul (1928) -
"The Potato Elf" Russian Rul (1929) A Russian Beauty and Other Stories (1973)
"The Aurelian" Russian Sovremennya Zapiski (1931) Nabokov's Dozen (1958)
"A Dashing Fellow" Russian Segodnya (early 1930s) A Russian Beauty and Other Stories (1973)
"A Bad Day" Russian Poslednie Novosti (1931) Details of a Sunset and Other Stories (1976)
"The Visit to the Museum" Russian Sovremennya Zapiski (1939) A Russian Beauty and Other Stories (1973)
"A Busy Man" Russian Poslednie Novosti (1931) Details of a Sunset and Other Stories (1976)
"Terra Incognita" Russian Poslednie Novosti (1931) A Russian Beauty and Other Stories (1973)
"The Reunion" Russian Poslednie Novosti (1932) Details of a Sunset and Other Stories (1976)
"Lips to Lips" Russian Vesna v Fialte (1956) A Russian Beauty and Other Stories (1973)
"Orache" Russian Poslednie Novosti (1932) Details of a Sunset and Other Stories (1976)
"Music" Russian Poslednie Novosti (1932) Tyrants Destroyed and Other Stories (1974)
"Perfection" Russian Poslednie Novosti (1932) Tyrants Destroyed and Other Stories (1974)
"The Admiralty Spire" Russian Poslednie Novosti (1933) Tyrants Destroyed and Other Stories (1974)
"The Leonardo" Russian Poslednie Novosti (1933) A Russian Beauty and Other Stories (1973)
"In Memory of L. I. Shigaev" Russian Poslednie Novosti (1934) Tyrants Destroyed and Other Stories (1974)
"The Circle" Russian Poslednie Novosti (presumed; 1936) A Russian Beauty and Other Stories (1973)
"A Russian Beauty" Russian Poslednie Novosti (1934) A Russian Beauty and Other Stories (1973)
"Breaking the News" Russian unknown, circa 1935 A Russian Beauty and Other Stories (1973)
"Torpid Smoke" Russian Poslednie Novosti (1935) A Russian Beauty and Other Stories (1973)
"Recruiting" Russian Poslednie Novosti (1935) Tyrants Destroyed and Other Stories (1974)
"A Slice of Life" Russian Poslednie Novosti (1935) Details of a Sunset and Other Stories (1976)
"Spring in Fialta" Russian Sovremennya Zapiski (1937) Nabokov's Dozen (1958)
"Cloud, Castle, Lake" Russian Sovremennya Zapiski (1938) Nabokov's Dozen (1958)
"Tyrants Destroyed" Russian Russkiya Zapiski (1938) Tyrants Destroyed and Other Stories (1974)
"Lik" Russian Russkiya Zapiski (1939) Tyrants Destroyed and Other Stories (1974)
"Vasiliy Shishkov" Russian Russkiya Zapiski (1939) Tyrants Destroyed and Other Stories (1974)
"Ultima Thule" Russian Novyy Zhurnal (1942) A Russian Beauty and Other Stories (1973)
"Solus Rex" Russian Sovremennya Zapiski (1940) A Russian Beauty and Other Stories (1973)
"Mademoiselle O" French Mesures (1936) Nabokov's Dozen (1958)
"The Assistant Producer" English Atlantic Monthly Nabokov's Dozen (1958)
"That in Aleppo Once…" English Atlantic Monthly Nabokov's Dozen (1958)
"A Forgotten Poet" English Atlantic Monthly Nabokov's Dozen (1958)
"Time and Ebb" English Atlantic Monthly Nabokov's Dozen (1958)
"Conversation Piece, 1945" English The New Yorker (1945) Nabokov's Dozen (1958)
"Signs and Symbols" English The New Yorker (1948) Nabokov's Dozen (1958)
"First Love" English The New Yorker (1948) Nabokov's Dozen (1958)
"Scenes from the Life of a Double Monster" English The Reporter Nabokov's Dozen (1958)
"The Vane Sisters" English Hudson Review (1959) Tyrants Destroyed and Other Stories (1974)
"Lance" English The New Yorker (1952) Nabokov's Dozen (1958)
"Easter Rain" Russian Russkoe Ekho (1925) 11th U.S. paperback printing (2002)
"The Word" Russian Rul (1923) 15th U.S. paperback printing (2006)
"Natasha" Russian The New Yorker (2008; composed 1924) 17th U.S. paperback printing (2008)

Editions

Notes and References

  1. Book: Nabokov, Vladimir. The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov. Alfred A. Knopf. 1995. 9780394586151. United States.
  2. http://www.vnbiblio.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/05/The-Stories-of-Vladimir-Nabokov.pdf Vladimir Nabokov: A Descriptive Bibliography, Revised