The Eye
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Good
Markings: Fair - Bumping on spine and corners. Rubbed edges.
A slim but psychologically intricate novella, The Eye chronicles the strange afterlife of Smurov, a Russian émigré living in Berlin who, following a humiliating episode and an apparent suicide attempt, becomes obsessed with reconstructing his own identity through the observations of those around him. Nabokov masterfully uncovers the unreliable nature of self-perception, presenting a narrator who can only understand himself as a reflection in the eyes of others — a conceit that grows increasingly destabilizing and darkly comic as the story unfolds. Written originally in Russian in 1930 and later translated by the author himself with his son Dmitri, the work illustrates Nabokov's signature blend of wit, formal ingenuity, and philosophical depth in concentrated form. The novella's cool, detached tone and its dazzling narrative sleight-of-hand anticipate the grand metafictional games of Lolita and Pale Fire, making it an essential, if compact, entry in the Nabokov canon.
Author: Vladimir Nabokov
Format: Hardback
Published: 1965, Phaedra
Genre: Modern fiction
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Good
Markings: Fair - Bumping on spine and corners. Rubbed edges.
A slim but psychologically intricate novella, The Eye chronicles the strange afterlife of Smurov, a Russian émigré living in Berlin who, following a humiliating episode and an apparent suicide attempt, becomes obsessed with reconstructing his own identity through the observations of those around him. Nabokov masterfully uncovers the unreliable nature of self-perception, presenting a narrator who can only understand himself as a reflection in the eyes of others — a conceit that grows increasingly destabilizing and darkly comic as the story unfolds. Written originally in Russian in 1930 and later translated by the author himself with his son Dmitri, the work illustrates Nabokov's signature blend of wit, formal ingenuity, and philosophical depth in concentrated form. The novella's cool, detached tone and its dazzling narrative sleight-of-hand anticipate the grand metafictional games of Lolita and Pale Fire, making it an essential, if compact, entry in the Nabokov canon.