Pnin

Pnin

First edition in book form
Author	Vladimir Nabokov
Country	United States
Language	English
Publisher	Heinemann
Publication date	1957

Pnin (Russian pronunciation: [pnʲin]) is Vladimir Nabokov's 13th novel and his fourth written in English; it was published in 1957. The success of Pnin in the United States would launch Nabokov's career into literary prominence. The book's eponymous protagonist, Timofey Pavlovich Pnin, is a Russian-born assistant professor in his 50s living in the United States. Exiled by both the Russian Revolution and what he calls the "Hitler war," Pnin teaches Russian at the fictional Waindell College, possibly modeled on Cornell University, Colgate University, or Wellesley College—places where Nabokov himself taught.

The novel begins with the introduction of Timofey Pavlovich Pnin, a professor of Russian at Waindell College, who is "ideally bald" with a "strong man torso," short "spindly legs," and "feminine feet." Pnin is on a train en route from Waindell to Cremona, where he is to give a guest lecture. Pnin is persistently bothered by the fear that he may lose his lecture papers, or muddle them with the student essay he is correcting. He discovers he has boarded the wrong train and gets off. When he tries to board a bus to Cremona, he suddenly realizes he has lost his luggage (with his papers) and has a fit of dizziness. He arrives at Cremona, having recovered his papers, and is about to give his lecture when he experiences a vision, seeing his dead parents and friends from before the Russian Revolution in the audience. The chapter ends without revealing whether Pnin has the correct papers.

Laurence Clements, a fellow Waindell faculty member, and his wife Joan, are looking for a new lodger after their daughter Isabel has married and moved out. Their new tenant happens to be Pnin himself, who has been informed of the vacancy by Waindell's librarian, Mrs. Thayer. Although at first skeptical of lodging a man with such an unfavorable reputation (Laurence refers to him as a "freak"), the Clementses grow to enjoy Pnin's eccentricities and his idiosyncratic phrasings. There follows the history of Pnin's relationship with his ex-wife Dr. Liza Wind, who manipulated him so that she might come to America and marry another man, fellow psychologist Eric Wind. Liza visits Pnin, but only wants to extract money from him for her son, Victor. Although Pnin is aware of her schemes, he obliges out of his still-present love for his ex-wife. After Liza leaves, Pnin weeps at her cruelty, shouting "I haf nofing left, nofing, nofing!"