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Ada, or Ardor: A Family Chronicle Audiobook
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(4.00) - 4,152 listener ratings
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Publisher Description
Published two weeks after Vladimir Nabokov’s seventieth birthday, Ada, or Ardor is one of his greatest masterpieces, the glorious culmination of his career as a novelist. It tells a love story troubled by incest, but it is also at once a fairy tale, epic, philosophical treatise on the nature of time, parody of the history of the novel, and erotic catalogue. Ada, or Ardor is no less than the supreme work of an imagination at white heat.
This is the first American edition to include the extensive and ingeniously sardonic appendix by the author, written under the anagrammatic pseudonym Vivian Darkbloom.
One of the twentieth century’s master prose stylists, Vladimir Nabokov was born in St. Petersburg in 1899. He studied French and Russian literature at Trinity College, Cambridge, then lived in Berlin and Paris, where he launched a brilliant literary career. In 1940 he moved to the United States, and achieved renown as a novelist, poet, critic, and translator. He taught literature at Wellesley, Stanford, Cornell, and Harvard. In 1961 he moved to Montreux, Switzerland, where he died in 1977.
“Nabokov writes prose the only way it should be written, that is, ecstatically.” —John Updike
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"I need to re-visit this. It deserves much more of my time, as it is about time, space and place, concatenations of highly erotic and intellectual love, and Van's perfect bowel movements. Maybe it is not about his bowel movements, but he mentions having perfect bowel movements a bit much. The incest is less problematic than the bowel movements. Vlad lost me when he had Van Veen share his treatise on time, which is... not terribly obviously ordered. But I want to throw myself back into the arduous murk and musk of the book. It's pretty heady."
— A.K. (5 out of 5 stars)
Ada, or Ardor Listener Reviews
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Bob Roe, 2/22/2024
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" All I can say is that as nymphets go, both Ada and Lucette leave that little Haze twit far, far behind. "
— Hala, 2/14/2014 -
" Yes, V, you are smarter than I am. The Ardis portion was the best, easily. "
— Christian, 2/7/2014 -
" I really loved this book. Not an easy read, but fantastic writing and a great story. "
— Patricia, 2/7/2014 -
" This is my absolute favorite book. I hesitate to recommend it to others, however, because it is a hard book to work through. But I believe it is more than worth it in the end. "
— Jason, 1/24/2014 -
" jazz as prose. "
— M., 1/23/2014 -
" this book read like a five course meal. it was like eating a delicously rich feast that took hours to complete. it takes time and patience to digest but in the end it was worth every minute. i know i'm corny but this was one of the most beautifuly written book i've ever read. "
— Lindsey, 1/2/2014 -
" Dark, heart-breaking, and beautiful. "
— Cassandra, 12/16/2013 -
" My second favorite Nabokov novel so far. "
— Jessica, 12/16/2013 -
" Language birthing language, forging time games and impossible palpability. Freakishly delicious, almost too much. "
— Daniel, 12/12/2013 -
" Just finished rereading this. While I love Nabokov's style, innumberable alliterations, this convoluted novel has too much French and Russian interspersed for me to really enjoy it. In the end, it just made me feel inadequate. "
— Tim, 10/30/2013 -
" I loved this book. It is really beautiful. "
— Julianne, 5/2/2013 -
" i read this and told my boyfriend he couldn't call me his girlfriend, he should only call me his lover. this is hot, and creepy, and dark like a russian castle. "
— Katie, 11/15/2012 -
" V.C. Andrews for intellectuals. I loved it. "
— Lindsay, 9/11/2012 -
" I pretty much think this is the best book of all time. Like a culmination of what Nabokov could do, what language could do, and what narrative could do. Just. Fucking. Fantastic. "
— Kira, 6/19/2012 -
" quite twisted "
— Felicity, 5/24/2012 -
" This book was a brilliant mockery of the large russian family novel, but it got a little too close, at times, to that which it mocked. "
— Jena, 2/7/2012 -
" Not as good as Lolita or Pale Fire but average Nabokov is still pretty wonderful "
— Christine, 1/5/2012 -
" Another one in the top ten favorite books list "
— Whitney, 12/7/2011 -
" Meh. Maybe someone much more intellectually savvy than I would like this book. However, I can't get past the 12 & 14 year old cousins/brother-sister having sex. "
— Brittany, 7/27/2011 -
" Enjoying immensely, it might easily become my favourite Nabokov. "
— Michael, 7/27/2011 -
" This is probably my favorite novel of all time. I have read it twice and will no doubt read it again "
— subterraneanhomesickalien, 7/27/2011 -
" The best thing in it is the Texture of Time. "
— K, 4/11/2011 -
" I had a Nabokov reading jag in the late 70's. To tell you the truth, I remember brother and sister, so European, or Russian trying to pass as European..... have to take another shot at it, see if the intervening years change reactions. "
— Scott, 4/5/2011
About Vladimir Nabokov
Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (1889–1977) was one of the most prolific writers and literary critics of the twentieth century. Born in St. Petersburg, Russia, he grew up in a trilingual household and later studied Slavic and romance languages at Trinity College, Cambridge, taking his honors degree in 1922. For the next eighteen years he lived in Berlin and Paris, writing prolifically in Russian under the pseudonym “Sirin” and supporting himself through translations, lessons in English and tennis, and by composing the first crossword puzzles in Russian. Having already fled Russia and Germany, Nabokov became a refugee once more in 1940 when he was forced to leave France for the United States. There he taught at Wellesley, Harvard, and Cornell. He died in Montreux, Switzerland.
About Arthur Morey
Arthur Morey has won three AudioFile Magazine “Best Of” Awards, and his work has garnered numerous AudioFile Earphones Awards and placed him as a finalist for two Audie Awards. He has acted in a number of productions, both off Broadway in New York and off Loop in Chicago. He graduated from Harvard and did graduate work at the University of Chicago. He has won awards for his fiction and drama, worked as an editor with several book publishers, and taught literature and writing at Northwestern University. His plays and songs have been produced in New York, Chicago, and Milan, where he has also performed.