I made my way in that direction where, to judge by the voices, stood beings akin to me.

One of my favourite novels is Invitation to a Beheading by Vladimir Nabokov.

Without intending to be overly narcissistic, I repost here a hastily-written reading response on this novel for a Vladimir Nabokov class I took in the spring. It's certainly not my best work, but rereading it reminds me of how much I would rather be writing about Nabokov than international trade.

PS. The quote in the title is probably my absolutely favourite line in the book. Sheer genius.


Many have compared the experience of reading Invitation to a Beheading to Cincinnatus’ slow and torturous road to execution. Upon finishing the novel, I find myself thinking that not only do Cincinnatus and the reader both go through an “execution”, but they also underwent a journey of self-discovery. After a lifetime in a world where everyone acts in an irrational manner, Cincinnatus finally heads toward the other opaque beings, and only in taking this step is he finally about to learn who he really is. Likewise, by challenging the reader to delve into a world where “gnostical turpitude” is punishable by death and judges and prosecutors are meant to be brothers, forcing us to explore how we feel about this world and these characters, Nabokov gives us a better understanding of ourselves. Instead of viewing it as a novel of despondence and oppression, Invitation to a Beheading is more appropriately seen as a novel of hope.


I have always admired how Nabokov’s works seem to have infinite levels of interpretation – the literal, metaphorical, allegorical, existential, and so on. At Cincinnatus’ trial, “the words “translucence” and “opacity” rose and burst like bubbles (21)”, and so he is condemned to death because he is not translucent like the others. He practices duality and hides another “Cincinnatus” within himself, one who dreams of another reality, and such secrets makes him opaque. On some level, Nabokov uses Cincinnatus to represent all those who feel out of place from their environment, and Invitation to a Beheading can be seen as a positive force of encouragement dedicated to anyone who feels different. People are afraid of what they cannot understand, like Cincinnatus’ opaqueness, but even in the darkness of his prison cell, Cincinnatus still believes “it exists, my dream world, it must exist, since, surely there must be an original of the clumsy copy. (93)” Isn’t it ironic that Cincinnatus had accepted his fate from the beginning, with self-pity and lamentations, when all along he had been aware of possessing the power to change the situation? “…and by evoking them – not believing in them, perhaps, but still evoking them – Cincinnatus allowed them the right to exist, supported them, nourished them with himself. (156)” This is an especially memorable line referring to the characters of Rodion, Rodrig, M’sieur Pierre, and the like. It implies that their right to exist lies in the hands of Cincinnatus, yet they are also the exact individuals who are carrying out his execution!


In the end, when Cincinnatus finally asks himself, “why am I here? Why and I lying like this? (222)” In a world shrouded with cloudy misery, there is now “a clarity he had never experienced before – at first almost painful…but then suffusing him with joy.” (222) This clarity comes with the realization that the power of one lies within himself, and it is no coincidence that Cincinnatus’ world collapses and prison guards shrink to the size of larvae as soon as he finds the courage to pursue his “dream world.” Perhaps, through this gruesome tale, Nabokov is telling us that, like Cincinnatus, we should also be edging closer to beings akin to us.