Vladimir Nabokov, Look at the Harlequins!

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In April 1974, aged 75, Nabokov completed what was to be his last published novel,

Look at the Harlequins!

That same month he signed a four-year contract with McGraw-Hill for a further six books – his next novel,

The Original of Laura

, which he was ready to start, as well as newly-translated volumes of short stories, his Russian plays, and a selection of nineteenth- and twentieth-century Russian verse. It was as if the completion of

Look at the Harlequins!

gave Nabokov a new lease of life: during work on the novel he was preoccupied by a fear that he would not be able to finish it. For the first time in his career he made a point of keeping the index cards on which he composed in their correct order by numbering them, with the stipulation that only those numbered cards could be…

2797 words

Citation: Wyllie, Barbara. "Look at the Harlequins!". The Literary Encyclopedia. First published 24 April 2007 [https://www.litencyc.com/php/sworks.php?rec=true&UID=3920, accessed 19 March 2024.]

3920 Look at the Harlequins! 3 Historical context notes are intended to give basic and preliminary information on a topic. In some cases they will be expanded into longer entries as the Literary Encyclopedia evolves.

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