That Other World | Hardcover

That Other World: Nabokov and the Puzzle of Exile

Format: Hardcover
Pages: 341
Date of Release: 25 June 2019

That Other World: Nabokov and the Puzzle of Exile by Azar Nafisi is a deeply insightful exploration of the imaginative and emotional landscapes within Vladimir Nabokov’s work. Serving as a precursor to her acclaimed Reading Lolita in Tehran, this book reflects Nafisi’s early engagement with themes that would later define her writing.

Through striking examples from Nabokov’s fiction, Nafisi examines characters caught between worlds—figures shaped by loss, memory, and displacement. From a ruler seeking cultural legitimacy through an old acquaintance, to a critic uncovering hidden truths within a poem, and even the complex inner world of Humbert from Lolita, these narratives reveal how identity and exile are closely intertwined.

Nafisi explores how Nabokov’s characters search for meaning in worlds that are lost, imagined, or just out of reach, and how these parallel realities reflect the author’s own experiences of exile—physical, linguistic, and emotional.

Now available in English for the first time, with a new introduction by the author, this thoughtful and engaging work invites readers into a journey of literary discovery. Both analytical and personal, it offers a richer understanding of Nabokov’s writing and the enduring theme of belonging in a fractured world.

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