#(im also going to reread pnin thank you anon!!)

[vsirin]

Why's pnin your favourite book? 🙃

well hello I'm glad you asked!!! I will say- I doubt I can really do it justice, I'm not sufficiently eloquent, but I will try to convey why! (Also a warning, I work in a library and am obsessed with breaking books down into their ~appeal elements~ and studying who likes what and why soooo to be asked why my favorite book is my favorite book is the most indulgent thing, thank you very much :) !!!)

(no spoilers included, because I want everyone to read the book themselves!)

Let’s start with the praise from Graham Greene on the cover of the edition I own: “Funny, and of a sadness”. Funny and of a sadness!!!! Shouldn’t every book be that way, I think so. I love lighthearted reading- on the surface- I love smiling but with furrowed eyebrows and sad eyes. (I apparently love to torture myself- is this self sabotage?) 

For one thing, the book is very very character based and I love that (Timofey Pnin is the main character). I’m one of those character readers and don’t even need plot. Let me follow a character’s lifespan, heck maybe 3 generations of characters, I don’t need an intriguing plot to be interested. I might be slightly exaggerating but character study books are always my favorite, and Pnin himself is such a lovable character and exhibits all my ~favorite qualities~: middle age, struggling to adapt, good hearted, lonely and sad. (Why these are my favorite characters I really don’t know, but they always always are <3) He is well read, a cultured person, regularly “referring” to music or books- I also interject here to say there is some interesting narration going on so while Pnin is the main character and we know his thoughts and very much about him, he is not actually the narrator- it’s a very curious style (please read it!)

The introduction (note: always skip the introductions of classics they never fail to spoil every element of the story) which I indeed read after finishing the book summarized the story well. I’m paraphrasing but basically it said that both the story’s humor and its sadness are in the fact that Pnin does not understand America where he now lives, he constantly compares things to Russia, constantly remembers Russia- the book is scenario after scenario of Pnin confused, making mistakes, etc. usually because of some fundamental misunderstanding of the country or language. (This isn’t overly, obnoxiously spelled out in the book like I may be making it out to be, but it is at its core.) Pnin is typically able to laugh at the situation, sometimes misses the fact that people are laughing at him, and remains good natured throughout- mostly. 

Now there’s something utterly endearing when a character trying his best is laughed at for his misfortune and doesn’t even realize it, or doesn’t react harshly, or laughs along- and it isn’t pity it’s just care, and this I think could sum up why I love the book; because I care about Pnin, I love Pnin the character. (I am also just in general something of a mother-type and this sort of character does me in. I love him :’( )

I said “mostly” remains good natured but as I’ve also said, the book is of a sadness and Pnin is sad. There are some truly heartbreaking moments when his pain is described or expressed, and at times complete with his Russian accent spelled out (in case you didn’t love him enough). 

One of my favorite things in media is a strong sense of place, those setting-heavy books and movies that could take place nowhere else. And I love characters who are rooted to a place, and I consider Pnin rooted- but to Russia, where he grew up and had to leave, where he can’t go back, where he can’t stop thinking about, and it’s so sad, he is misplaced, he isn’t home!!! This is another theme I love/connect to in books, being a rooted and anxious person myself- to know and love a home and then be taken away and kept from it... it is such an intense sadness and intense loneliness!!! (And again, this isn’t spelled out, Pnin doesn’t bemoan that he can’t go home, he loves America- but you see in the memories he has and the stories he tells that Russia is still his home.)

And yet he heartily tries to understand America and it’s so endearing, his effort is admirable... and I think that effort is also why I love him, the effort even in a situation that to me seems like the undeniable end- I mean, do you get that encouraging feeling from seeing characters survive your fears and anxieties and come out the other side still going, still loving? I think that’s what I’m getting at here. 

I don’t want to totally misconstrue the book as depressing (I just have a melancholic soul and temperament :) ) because again, it’s not just “of a sadness” but funny too- Pnin is entirely lovable and the workings of his mind are just plain amusing at times. The situational misfortunes he encounters are funny when he doesn’t suffer much because of them (as often he doesn’t). And I just think, because Pnin at his heart and in his soul is a good and hopeful and loving person, even though parts are sad, or the whole book could be sad, he keeps it from being depressing.

And the language!!! It doesn’t need saying that Nabokov is a master. The voice of this novel, the wording, it is truly gorgeous. And you can’t help but admire his wit for coming up with circumstances that couldn’t be more unfortunate, and then-

But I think also, as much as I clearly, for some reason, love and cling to the depressing side of Pnin’s story, the joy I feel when he is happy and successful and comes out ahead and is the bigger person in every scenario is unparalleled, I mean you really root for him the whole story and these moments are truly beautiful. While writing this I remembered the end of the story and could not stop my smile- I love him!!!! 

Watch me reblog this 10 times with “And another thing-” but this gives you the gist :) I hope you’ll read it! It’s a short book and the best one I’ve ever read!!!! I had sososo much fun writing this- thank you for the excuse to put down what I’ve been thinking ever since I read it!! I really think “Why is [x] your favorite book?” is perhaps the kindest question anyone could ever ask :)) And what is yours!?

(and edit & a PS: this doesn’t have to do with why I love the book but I must say, if ever a film or play or anything is made of Pnin I must be involved to cast Ralph Fiennes, who else, because I think he can embody all of what I’ve talked about above sooo perfectly and it’s too good of a casting move to not happen!!! I hope his agent finds this and does something about it, thank you)