Effortless prose
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Effortless prose that flows easily on the page. It shows how a masterpiece can also be a page turning thriller. One hopes for some kind of redemption or happy ending but, of course, it never happens.
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Good, but not great
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This was the first Nabokov that I have read, and there was certainly enough here to make me interested in reading more. That said, I found this book strangely unsatisfying. I came to it because Joseph Heller frequently cited its style as being very influential in the writing of 'Catch-22'. This perhaps gave me lofty expectations, and I could see the connections, but I couldn't in really bracket the two together. What they do share, is very black humour running through what are, ultimately, unpleasant events.
The story centres round a middle-aged man (Albinus) who falls for the coquettish charms of Margot, an ambitious child/woman who strings him along in order to squeeze cash and career opportunities out of their liaison. Albinus convinces himself that she loves him, a belief which causes his life to disintegrate around him. Margot turns out to be a pretty nasty piece of work, but his fascination has no limits, and the Albinus we see by the end of the book is a hideous, unrecognisable creature compared to the respectable gent we see at the start. 'Laughter...' contains all the themes that would later be incorporated into 'Lolita', so this can perhaps be seen as the prototype for that book.
Although I did enjoy it, and would recommend it as a reasonably quick and not too involved read, the tone of the book made it difficult for me to get into. The jaunty humour coupled with the dark events contributed to a slightly unreal, cartoonish feeling. This is reinforced by a fairly simplistic writing style. Perhaps this is part of the point, to confuse the reader's reaction to important events by making them seem somehow inconsequential or silly. The title of the book itself suggests this contrast. I was definitely sufficiently intrigued to want to read more of Nabokov's books, but I'm hoping that this one isn't his best.
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A gem: not one wasted word, not one woolly idea
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Put aside a couple of days to read this mini-masterpiece about an ordinary man whose life falls apart because he has an affair with a deceitful hussy. The brilliance of the book lies in the fact that, while you know the anti-hero has brought about his own downfall, you still feel sorry for him by the end. Some scenes are comical, others are creepy. It's a must!
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An underated masterpiece of personal ruin
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The undisputed master of the opening lines of a novel, Nabokov does not fail to dent his reputation with Laughter in the Dark. Whether is be the intense beauty of the opening to Lolita, or the macabre tale that ushers into this offering, he stretches his reader's imagination and heart to level beyond utterance. This is quite simply one of greatest tales to envoke despair in both the reader and the protagonist, Albinus. A life lost. Ruined. The betrayal of a wife, and the complex results that lay seige to the rest of his days.
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