Imagine knowing your English professor was writing Lolita in his downtime...

His ingenuity borders on incredible. Of course, no Russian speak that British English rich and fluent as he did any more. He is undoubtedly the very last of the Mohicans of the great literary tradition dating from the heart of that golden age represented by Pushkin, Gogol, Tolstoy and Dostoyevski. I am inclined to imagine his American audience of the day had been rather tempted to write by his example, his ardent vigor, in spite of the ageing body, his general drive of an artist. In that sense, the Kafkean beetle lurks in each and every of us endowed with a few droplets of talent, for it is this kind of metamorphosis that turns us as human beings into a creature of creation, however trying and even repugnant such prowess may appear to the unproductive and secondary mind of an onlooker.

It's amazingly performed, love it . Christopher plummer RIP .

What a marvelous actor! No one has played such a wide variety of roles! RIP Christopher Plummer.

My respect and appreciation of Nabokov grew tenfold after witnessing this remarkable man step into a storyteller's shoes. There can be no doubt after watching this, literature ran through his veins, not mere blood. Thank you so much for sharing this with the world.

You have to admire the old school actors , though strongly Shakespearian . Its sheer class and perfect diction and modulations

Wow! Thank you for sharing this, what a jewel! brilliant Nabokov, brilliant Plummer

Man, what an outstanding actor

Please dont delete this video forever please please please please...i am begging u🥺

The greatest short story ever written.

Thank you for the video!

absolute gem

Fantastic! Thank you!

Nabokov was native English speaker, he was trilingual

what an incredible little film...much thanks!

10/10 to the show how’s for pronouncing Vladimir Nabokov with an authentic sound of a Russian speaker.

This is based upon his collected lectures, edited by Fredson Bowers. One volume on Russian literature, one on English literature and one on Don Quixote. There was little to no critical theory in his lectures. Most of them illuminate the practical issues of writing stories.

Superbly done

Amazing. That story honestly gave me chills. I've never heard it before.

Conrad taught himself English through reading. He wanted to read Shakespeare in original.

oy... Kafka was not a "petty clerk" in a Gogolian office -- he was an executive at a large insurance firm, and his legal knowledge of labor insurance issues was invaluable to his company

wonderful story by Franz Kafka!

Charlie day had to have been playing this character in flowers for Charlie lol

just wonderful

Без влияния такой литературы , интеллект все больше подчиняется инстинктам - практически возвышая их . Поэзия Владимира Набокова не уступит его прозе!

Humour in Kafka, Absurd, Marx in the novel America. Vera Nabokov translated Kafka for his husband. She was Jewish. He had a quarrel with Soljenitsin about the antisemitism of Alexander

I don't wish to sound unkind because Christopher Plummer would easily be one of my favorite actors of all time but I feel like his Nabokov accent drifted into a French affectation. I don't know Nabokov so perhaps he knew French as well as English? Still it's a remarkable performance like most of his roles. RIP Christopher Plummer 💜

My favorite things about Kafka is how he treats corpses , or bodies destined for death: with utter contempt, because… that’s how it is

Fine performance!

Please explain the important notes to take away from such lecture?

Wow!

Kafka was born into the Austro-Hungarian empire as Czechoslovakia was not brought into being until after WWI

1959 was a great year for literature like lolita and naked lunch novels that led the way for such wonderful works as the atrocity exhibition and last exit to Brooklyn clockwork orange (1962 if not mistaken) and twelve to name but a few.

The real question is how Gregor the beetle mysteriously changes its size!

Number pad a stream deck should be it’s own video.

Takes you back to university days, eh ?

I think there is something off with this narration of the Metamorphosis which might not have been approved by Nabokov. It is really great, but there is something subtle nuance missing here. It might have come from the actor’s perception of the book. I might be wrong. Any feels the same?

"The passion of the scientist, and the precision of the artist" is probably the one quote that in my opinion separates a good writer from a great one.

holy jumping cats that's great

Is the “Nabokov” in this video actually Nabokov or is this a reenactment for the show?

You know what this film stock needs? More red.

He turned into a beatle but never played with John Lennon.

I don't know much about Nabokov, but I think the analysis of Kafka's Metamorphosis was brilliant. However, I can not say I liked Plummer's pompous sounding delivery, which was overly dramatic for my taste. Being an aristocrat, Nabokov may have sounded somewhat like that. I don't know. But the way Plummer spoke reminded me of William F. Buckley Jr. debating James Baldwin, the inflections and pompousness that are meant to indicate good breading and sophistication.

Why 1989 if Nobokov died in 1977?

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Fun stuff...

Plummer became crap with egoyan.

Wow this guy is clearly like to give spoilers