Invitation to a Beheading

Invitation to a Beheading is just as much fun to read stylistically as are Nabokov's other books.

It was a depressing book though, because one feels so sorry for the ugly person who's being made to wait for his beheading.

The magical, almost nonsensical events in the book make the other absurd events even more so, because the absurdity level is raised. While reading, one is struck by the actions of the people around Cin even when those actions might be reasonable to many people.

I thoroughly enjoyed Nabokov's characters other than Cincinnatus. He was not delightful or enjoyable, he was actually pretty depressing. However, I didn't like the other characters any more, I just enjoyed the fact that these were caricatures of people I've seen in mylife. Who have demands who have egos who have behavior they thing is right and normal, but in fact are obtrusive, abrasive, unwanted, and unnecessary.