A bildunsgroman of a gifted Russian poet living in Germany, which includes the character's biography of a real Russian author, Chernyshevski. The politics of the whole Chernyshevski stuff was over my head, and I think I might enjoy it more in a few years when I know more about Russian literature. It's not my favorite Nabokov novel, but I've only read it once.

"he had long since realized that he was incapable of giving his entire soul to anyone or anything: its working capital was too necessary to him for his own private affairs..."