Vladimir Nabokov: Novellas: The Eye; The Enchanter; The Original of Laura (The Penguin Vladimir Nabokov Hardback Collection) [2012] hardback OSPRE 'Beyond ambitious in scope

'Beyond ambitious in scope

' JANE CORRY

they're going to stop at nothing to expose the truth

Richie's story is sprawling and epic

Vladimir Nabokov: Novellas: The Eye; The Enchanter; The Original of Laura (The Penguin Vladimir Nabokov Hardback Collection) [2012] hardback OSPRE 'Beyond ambitious in scopeIn The Eye, a fussily self conscious Russian tutor shoots himself after a humiliating beating by his mistress' husband. There follows a satirical detective story and a wonderfully layered exploration of identity, appearance and the loss of self in a world of word play and confusion. Nabokov described The Enchanter, written in Paris in 1939, as 'the first little throb of Lolita'. The plot is similar: a middle aged man wedding an unattractive widow in