William Shakespeare (1654-1616) is, of course, generally accepted as the
greatest writer in English (and several other languages; his works have been
translated into over 80).
Vladimir Nabokov is regarded by some—including yours
truly—to be the greatest writer of English of the past century. They share the
birth anniversary of April 23, so, what the hell, let’s celebrate them
together.
It’s unfortunate that Shakespeare probably seems to very
many to be a difficult assignment from school rather than a profound and
entertaining artist. The antique language can be daunting, but, especially when
seen on stage or film, he still resonates and entertains. The ACCLibrary has many DVDs of his plays and also gets a video streaming
database, Films on Demand, that has
many Shakespeare plays you can watch on any internet device whenever you want.
Vladimir Nabokov, born in Russia in 1899, grew up speaking
and writing Russian, English, and French. His aristocratic family fled the
Communist revolution and he ended up a poor immigrant in Berlin, writing novels
at night and giving tennis lessons by day. He published 10 novels in Russian before
switching to English and writing 8 more. To be a top-notch novelist in two
languages is a remarkable feat not equaled by any other author.
Lolita is definitely his most famous novel (and is also a great movie done by StanleyKubrick). The novel initially was banned in the U.S. but went on to be a
huge bestseller. Several of his other novels, such as Pnin and Pale Fire (a
title taken from Shakespeare’s Timon of
Athens) are quite comical. If you’ve never tried any Nabokov, give him a
whirl. The
ACC Library has several works.
- Red Wassenich, RGC Library
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