Bend Sinister (novel)
A dystopian novel by Vladimir Nabokov, published in 1947.
Bend Sinister is a dystopian novel by Vladimir Nabokov, his eleventh book and second in English. He wrote it in 1945 and 1946, and Henry Holt and Company published it in 1947. The title comes from heraldry: a standard "bend" is a diagonal band from upper dexter (viewer's left) to lower sinister (viewer's right), while a "bend sinister" runs the opposite way. In a 1963 edition, Nabokov said the title was meant to suggest "an outline broken by refraction, a distortion in the mirror of being, a wrong turn taken by life." The novel frequently uses wordplay about leftward or "sinister" movements.
The story takes place in the fictional Eastern European city of Padukgrad, where a government has risen under a philosophy called Ekwilism. This philosophy discourages anyone from being different and makes the state the highest good. The protagonist, Adam Krug, is a university professor and renowned philosopher who has just lost his wife to a failed surgery. The head of the university and colleagues ask him to sign and deliver a speech for the new government's leader, but Krug refuses. The government is run by a man named Paduk and his "Party of the Average Man." Through memories, it emerges that Krug bullied Paduk in school, calling him "the Toad." Paduk arrests many close to Krug and those opposing Ekwilism, trying to pressure the influential Krug into endorsing the state philosophy. Paduk summons Krug and makes various offers, but Krug refuses even after his friends Maximov, Ember, and Hedron are arrested. Finally, Paduk kidnaps Krug's young son, David. Krug gives in and agrees to promote Ekwilism, expecting David's safe return. But a bureaucratic error sends David to a rehabilitation clinic for violent prisoners disguised as an orphanage, where he is killed when offered as a "release" to inmates. Paduk offers Krug the chance to kill those responsible, but Krug curses the officials and is locked in a large cell. Another offer—to free 24 opponents of Ekwilism, including his arrested friends—is also refused. Krug charges at Paduk and is shot by Paduk's henchmen. At this point, Nabokov intervenes in the narration, feeling such pity for Krug that he stresses the story is fictional and Adam Krug never existed.
Quick Facts
- Author
- Vladimir Nabokov
- Country
- United States
- Language
- English
- Genre
- Dystopian fiction
- Publisher
- Henry Holt and Company
- Pub Date
- 1947
Facts from the source article.
Lore & Background
The novel's title derives from heraldry: a standard 'bend' is a diagonal band from upper dexter (viewer's left) to lower sinister (viewer's right), while a 'bend sinister' is its reverse. In a 1963 edition, Nabokov explained the title as 'an attempt to suggest an outline broken by refraction, a distortion in the mirror of being, a wrong turn taken by life.' The book frequently uses word-play concerning leftward or 'sinister' movements.
The plot follows Adam Krug, a university professor and philosopher, whose wife dies from an unsuccessful surgery. The new government, led by Krug's former classmate Paduk (nicknamed 'the Toad'), pressures Krug to endorse the state philosophy. When Krug refuses, Paduk arrests Krug's friends and eventually kidnaps his young son David.
Reader's Guide
Bend Sinister was written in the aftermath of World War II, during a period of pro-USSR sentiment in America that disturbed Nabokov, a fierce opponent of Communism. According to Brian Boyd, Nabokov wrote the novel to show that Nazi Germany and Soviet Russia represented 'fundamentally the same brutish vulgarity.' Despite this political context, Nabokov insisted on his aestheticism and disclaimed interest in 'literature of social comment,' rejecting comparisons to Kafka and Orwell.
Reception was mixed: The New Republic called it 'at once impressive, powerful and oddly exasperating,' while The New York Times gave a glowing review, and editor Allen Tate called it 'the only first rate piece of literature that I have had the privilege of reading as an editor.' Contemporary critics have offered retrospective praise, with The Forward calling it 'one of Nabokov's finest statements on the fight to reclaim freedom and individualism.' A black-and-white German television adaptation was made in West Germany in 1970.
Did You Know?
- Nabokov originally titled the novel The Person from Porlock, then Game to Gunm, then Solus Rex, before settling on Bend Sinister.
- The novel's title refers to a heraldic bend sinister, a diagonal band from upper left to lower right as viewed by the shield's bearer.
- Nabokov wrote the novel while teaching at Wellesley College, composing the greater part in the winter and spring of 1945–1946.
- In the novel's climax, Nabokov himself intervenes in the narration to state that the story is fictional and Adam Krug never existed.
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