Deidra (deidra) - reviewed on 1/28/2008 + 31 more book reviews

Helpful Score: 1

I first picked up this book when it was a paperback best seller (maybe 2004 or 2005?) and had an awful time getting into the book. It's definitely heavy on allusions, and I think that is probably the source of my difficulty. Since then, I've read Lolita, and I read The Great Gatsby years ago, and when I picked up the book last week, the constant references to Nabokov in the first section of the book didn't throw me off.

The book is split into sections defined by the book or author most alluded to, in this order: Lolita, Gatsby, James, and Austen. I haven't read any of Henry James' or Jane Austen's novels, but I think I'd built up enough interest in the characters in the first two sections to carry me through the rest of the book.

This time around, I enjoyed the book greatly and flew through it in a week. I'd recommend the book strongly, with the disclaimer that you'll enjoy it more if you're very familiar with at least some of the literary allusions.

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