How the hell do you pronounce "Pnin"?

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I am terrified of someone asking me what I'm reading and not being able to answer.

― franny (frannyglass), Thursday, 7 December 2006 14:28 (seventeen years ago) link

Like it's spelt. Although I think it's more of an "ee". "Pneen". Doesn't the book actually mention this?

― Casuistry (casuistry), Thursday, 7 December 2006 22:02 (seventeen years ago) link

You do pronounce the "P".

― Casuistry (casuistry), Thursday, 7 December 2006 22:03 (seventeen years ago) link

I too have wondered this. puh-neen then? I'm not up to reading something I can't pronounce these days.

― jaq (jaq), Thursday, 7 December 2006 23:11 (seventeen years ago) link

Right, but not quite a "puh". You're trying to make the space between the P and the N as short as possible.

How not to pronounce it: like that sinus thing Jack Lemmon does in the Odd Couple.

― accentmonkey (accentmonkey), Thursday, 7 December 2006 23:34 (seventeen years ago) link

Excellent. Although, I was hoping the ns were silent.

― jaq (jaq), Friday, 8 December 2006 00:13 (seventeen years ago) link

In the book, the American characters pronounce it several different (implicitly wrong) ways (pun-neen, neen). I spent the whole book looking for clues as to the correct pronunciation and never found any.

I finished it last night, with sadness.

― franny (frannyglass), Friday, 8 December 2006 13:47 (seventeen years ago) link

I think maybe you did find enough clues, though! The "p" is neither silent nor its own syllable. That's not an English-acceptable way to start a word, though, so we tend to adapt it to fit our language. Which, of course, has all sorts of resonances in the book.

― Casuistry (casuistry), Friday, 8 December 2006 15:43 (seventeen years ago) link

puh-neen then?

More like p'neen

― sandboxico, Friday, 8 December 2006 22:54 (seventeen years ago) link

I think maybe you did find enough clues, though! Okay, so when I said I was looking for 'clues', what I actually meant was I wanted a very definitive and unambiguous statement as to exactly how to say the freaking title.
I know the name was deliberately chosen to be confusing and jarring to readers of English. The whole thing got very confusing by the end, didn't it - it was fabulous, though.

― franny (frannyglass), Saturday, 9 December 2006 14:20 (seventeen years ago) link

Oh, god dammit, I tried to make sure that italics thing wouldn't happen.

― franny (frannyglass), Saturday, 9 December 2006 14:21 (seventeen years ago) link

But it's Nabokov! All he'll ever give you are little clues and expect you to figure the rest out. He's like a bad boyfriend that way.

― Casuistry (casuistry), Saturday, 9 December 2006 17:20 (seventeen years ago) link

I know, I love his little clues, the little ways he'll refer back to some seemingly insignificant detail from 100 pages ago, as if he's watching to make sure you're paying attention. You always feel so proud when you catch them.

The bad boyfriend analogy is right on the money. Although at least with Vlad it's affectionate.

― franny (frannyglass), Saturday, 9 December 2006 18:35 (seventeen years ago) link

two months pass...

More like p'neen

that's more or less how my Nabokov-loving Russian friend pronounces it.

― nathalie (stevienixed), Wednesday, 21 February 2007 14:02 (seventeen years ago) link

In one of his essays Nabokov said it should be pronounced like "Up, Nina!" without the first and last letters.

― Ruud Haarvest (KenL), Wednesday, 21 February 2007 14:42 (seventeen years ago) link

That's EXACTLY the answer I was looking for.

― franny (frannyglass), Wednesday, 21 February 2007 15:25 (seventeen years ago) link

Also, Nuh-BOk-aff. Something like that.

― Casuistry (casuistry), Wednesday, 21 February 2007 16:08 (seventeen years ago) link

Oh, there must be an easier way to try to explain this!

― Casuistry (casuistry), Wednesday, 21 February 2007 16:17 (seventeen years ago) link

Mind you, I don't actually speak Russian, I'm probably a bit off.

― Casuistry (casuistry), Wednesday, 21 February 2007 16:18 (seventeen years ago) link

four years pass...

how the hell do you pronounce "Succinct"?

― jergins, Monday, 21 February 2011 03:24 (thirteen years ago) link

suck-sinkt or suss-inked

― jergins, Monday, 21 February 2011 03:24 (thirteen years ago) link

this is important

― jergins, Monday, 21 February 2011 03:24 (thirteen years ago) link

i pronounce it suss-sinkt, lavishing attention upon every consonant.

― estela, Monday, 21 February 2011 03:26 (thirteen years ago) link

it's such a princess of a word, i am strongly considering cutting it out of my vocabulary.

― estela, Monday, 21 February 2011 03:27 (thirteen years ago) link

in my head, I say it suss-inked. I've never tried to say it out loud.

― jaq, Monday, 21 February 2011 03:33 (thirteen years ago) link

it's funny, words you know really well, and know the meaning of, but don't ever say

― jergins, Monday, 21 February 2011 03:34 (thirteen years ago) link

oh you people.

suhk-singkt (səkˈsɪŋkt)

― lxy, Monday, 21 February 2011 03:35 (thirteen years ago) link

xp (or always say wrong)

― lxy, Monday, 21 February 2011 03:36 (thirteen years ago) link

Mr. Jaq and I have had rows over desultory and banal.

― jaq, Monday, 21 February 2011 03:39 (thirteen years ago) link

nine months pass...

I miss our "We love everything VN wrote except Ada" thread on real ILX.

― wang dang google doodle (James Redd), Friday, 16 December 2011 02:14 (twelve years ago) link

Yep!

― Lord Sotosyn, Friday, 16 December 2011 03:03 (twelve years ago) link

actually I don't like a lot of his novels.

― Lord Sotosyn, Friday, 16 December 2011 03:06 (twelve years ago) link

I mean, a half dozen of his short stories and "canonical" novels are all I need.

― Lord Sotosyn, Friday, 16 December 2011 03:07 (twelve years ago) link

in an old interview I read of his, nabokov said it's pronounced like it is when you say "up nina"

― good webinar (ha ha I'm having a fantasy), Friday, 16 December 2011 05:17 (twelve years ago) link

the two long ones (ada and the gift) are my least favorites

― n/a, Friday, 16 December 2011 15:59 (twelve years ago) link

I didn't care all that much for Pale Fire or even Lolita. Glory (in translation obv) was ok and there were a couple others I couldn't really make myself read. Pnin is my favorite - maybe it's Nabokov for people who don't love Nabokov, idk.

― Hurting, Friday, 16 December 2011 20:08 (twelve years ago) link

Pnin is kind of an outlier, it feels warmer and more human and less dense than most of his books - it's probably my second- or third-favorite Nabokov. I think there is depth there but he doesn't fuck with his readers as directly as in most of his books.

― n/a, Friday, 16 December 2011 21:08 (twelve years ago) link

Yeah, that's why I like it so much: it's a victory lap novel.

― Lord Sotosyn, Saturday, 17 December 2011 01:55 (twelve years ago) link

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