3.5
The Tragedy of Mister Morn
ByPublisher Description
Vladimir Nabokov’s earliest major work, written when he was twenty-four, is a full-length play in verse of Shakespearean beauty and richness.
The story of an incognito king whose love for the wife of a banished revolutionary brings on the chaos the king has fought to prevent, this five-act play was never published in Nabokov’s lifetime and lay in manuscript until it appeared in a Russian literary journal in 1997. It is an astonishingly precocious work, in exquisite verse, touching for the first time on what would become this great writer’s major themes: intense sexual desire and jealousy, the elusiveness of happiness, the power of the imagination, and the eternal battle between truth and fantasy. The Tragedy of Mister Morn is Nabokov’s major response to the Russian Revolution, which he had lived through, but it approaches the events of 1917 through the prism of Shakespearean tragedy.
Translated by Anastasia Tolstoy and Thomas Karshan
The story of an incognito king whose love for the wife of a banished revolutionary brings on the chaos the king has fought to prevent, this five-act play was never published in Nabokov’s lifetime and lay in manuscript until it appeared in a Russian literary journal in 1997. It is an astonishingly precocious work, in exquisite verse, touching for the first time on what would become this great writer’s major themes: intense sexual desire and jealousy, the elusiveness of happiness, the power of the imagination, and the eternal battle between truth and fantasy. The Tragedy of Mister Morn is Nabokov’s major response to the Russian Revolution, which he had lived through, but it approaches the events of 1917 through the prism of Shakespearean tragedy.
Translated by Anastasia Tolstoy and Thomas Karshan
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesThe Tragedy of Mister Morn Reviews
3.5
“Tragedy of Mr. Morn by Vladmir Nabokov
The key players in this play are:
The King/ Mr. Morn(an ever illusive figure who masquerades between man and God)
Ganus(an escaped rebel who's time spent in captivity reforms his ideologies)
and Tremons(the vengeful rebel seeking retribution for his previous failed attempts at power)
The play is essentially about Tremons' pursuit of corruption within a country recently save; rehabilitated by The King. Poverty is no more, a renewed sense of community can be felt through the country and that's all due to The King. What's interesting about this is as marvelous and glorified as The King is, no one knows who he is or what he looks like. Naboktov is undoubtedly inspired by the chaos Shakespeare evokes through his characterization and overall, the play was enjoyable That said, it is clear that Naboktov's writing style is and was more suited for novel. Moreover, the introduction highlights this notion in saying how there are two types of storytelling in the world..one suited for short form storytelling- plays, short works, etc VS those who have a gift for character building; Nabokov is the latter.
I was able to see that in his lack of direction when skipping scenes. There exists these large gaps in-between acts that leaves the reader a bit out of sorts. Not only time lapses in the environments themselves but also where the characters are at mentally within their personal storylines. Even in setting stage direction, there was a disconnect for me. I do also think some of the characters stories were given up on halfway through. Nabokov did a good job of making the characters interesting and nuanced but failed to develop their stories. I felt slightly unfulfilled come the end of it.
This did however renew this intrigue for me to pick up more plays in the future..so a win is a win LOL.
3/5 ⭐️
🎭”
“very interesting play, written in Shakespearean verse so of course it was up my alley. there’s a lot of russian history that informs it which i don’t know a ton about so i’d love to read this again after i’ve learned more russian history. it was captivating though, and the language is beautiful. i love verse, always will.”
About Vladimir Nabokov
VLADIMIR NABOKOV studied French and Russian literature at Trinity College, Cambridge, then lived in Berlin and Paris, writing prolifically in Russian under the pseudonym Sirin. In 1940, he left France for the United States, where he wrote some of his greatest works––Bend Sinister (1947), Lolita (1955), Pnin (1957), and Pale Fire (1962)––and translated his earlier Russian novels into English. He taught at Wellesley, Harvard, and Cornell. He died in Montreux, Switzerland, in 1977.
THOMAS KARSHAN is the author of Vladimir Nabokov and the Art of Play and editor of Nabokov’s Selected Poems. Previously a research fellow at Christ Church, Oxford, and Queen Mary, University of London, he is now a lecturer in literature at the University of East Anglia.
ANASTASIA TOLSTOY is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Oxford, where she is writing a thesis on Nabokov. She is the great-great-great-granddaughter of Leo Tolstoy.
THOMAS KARSHAN is the author of Vladimir Nabokov and the Art of Play and editor of Nabokov’s Selected Poems. Previously a research fellow at Christ Church, Oxford, and Queen Mary, University of London, he is now a lecturer in literature at the University of East Anglia.
ANASTASIA TOLSTOY is a Ph.D. candidate at the University of Oxford, where she is writing a thesis on Nabokov. She is the great-great-great-granddaughter of Leo Tolstoy.
Other books by Vladimir Nabokov
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