Invitation to a Beheading
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Invitation to a Beheading (Russian: Приглашение на казнь, Priglasheniye na kazn') is a novel by Russian American author Vladimir Nabokov. It was originally published in Russian in 1935-1936 as a serial in Contemporary Notes (Sovremennye zapiski), a highly respected Russian émigré magazine. In 1938 the work was published in Paris, with an English translation following in 1959. The English version was translated by Nabokov's son, Dmitri Nabokov, under the author's supervision.
The novel is often described as "Kafkaesque," however Nabokov claimed that at the time he wrote the book, he was unfamiliar with German and "completely ignorant" of Kafka's work. Nabokov interrupted his work on The Gift in order to write Invitation, describing the creation of the first draft as "one fortnight of wonderful excitement and sustained inspiration.
While Nabokov stated in an interview that of all his novels he held the greatest affection for Lolita, it was for Invitation to a Beheading that he held in the greatest esteem.
