Two autobiographical novels by Vladimir Nabokov under one cover. Both were written in Berlin and published under the pseudonym V. Sirin.

One of the main themes of both novels is the relationship between the past and the present. And given the émigré status of both Ganin, the hero of 'Mashenka,' and Martyn, the hero of 'The Feat,' the past appears much more vibrant and promising. But is it possible to build a future based on moments that have slipped away forever? These questions clearly tormented not only the characters and their author, but also all those who were forced to leave Soviet Russia and take pre-revolutionary Russia with them. In a letter to his mother, Nabokov wrote about the novel Mashenka and its characters: “I know what everyone smells like, how they walk, how they eat, and I understand so well that God, when creating the world, found pure and exciting joy in this. We, the translators of God’s creations, little plagiarists and imitators of him, sometimes, perhaps, embellish what God has written, just as it happens that a charming commentator adds even more charm to another line of genius.”

Published in 1926 by the Berlin publishing house Slovo, Mashenka and The Feat, published in 1931, are among Nabokov’s most personal novels, exploring in incredible detail the shaky and ghostly territory of human memories.

Abstract

The book contains two largely autobiographical novels by Nabokov, united by the theme of memory of the past. Lev Glebovich Ganin, the protagonist of the novel 'Mashenka,' meets Alexei Ivanovich Alferov in a Berlin boarding house. Alferov is expecting the imminent arrival of his wife, Mashenka, from Bolshevik Russia, after four years of estrangement. Seeing a photograph, Ganin recognizes Mashenka as his youthful love and resolves to win her back. The novel 'Feat' is the story of the European wanderings of another Russian émigré, Martyn Edelweiss, who, in the rapidly changing landscapes of Germany, France, England, Switzerland, and Greece, tries to organize his life, come to terms with the past, and find a future.

Quotes

'Is it really... possible...'—the letters appeared in a fiery, cautious whisper, and the night brushed them away with one velvet stroke. 'Is it really...'—they began again, creeping across the sky. And darkness fell again.