Using familiar and previously unknown materials, Stanislav Shvabrin has created an interpretative chronicle of Vladimir Nabokov’s dialogic engagement with his peers in the field of literary translation, mapping his evolution as translator and translation theorist.

Stanislav Shvabrin is Assistant Professor of Russian in the Department of Germanic and Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

"Although much attention has always been given to Nabokov’s infamous Onegin translation and commentary, no one has previously thought of approaching Nabokov’s translation work as a coherent and revealing thread running the full length of his creative life, a perspective which enlightens our understanding of not only the Onegin project itself but the very beginning, evolution, and realization of Nabokov’s artistic vision and practice. Shvabrin’s study provides this crucial yet missing element, and more."

Julian Connolly, Department of Slavic Languages and Literatures, University of Virginia:

"Between Rhyme and Reason is a substantial and substantive piece of research. Stanislav Shvabrin offers a comprehensive examination of Nabokov’s translation practice from his youth until near the end of his life, including both poetry and prose works. In looking at specific texts, Shvabrin not only describes in detail the individual technical and artistic features of the work under analysis but also reveals how Nabokov’s engagement with a given text may have influenced the development of his own art."