The History of Literature cover image

492 Nabokov Noir (with Luke Parker)

The History of Literature

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Stayevsky and Tolstoy - What's the Difference?

There's a concern for linguistic brilliance that is alien to both the Stayevsky and Tolstoy, although they both know what they're doing with this language. There's a kind of luminescence about his writing and a kind of a humour and an absurdity. He comes across as a little more refined and someone who's more detached from that. I think he really did care about how he was read and he did care about what readers would find in his fiction. And so there's an element there of a kind of visual virtuosity that obviously links with this cinema, but also a kind of scandalousness that really does link him back to someone like Dostoyevsky

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