SEER, 98, 2, APRIL 2020 360 virtues of human nature as sincerity, truthfulness and modesty. Simplification, on the contrary, is ‘u-proshchenie’, or making the simple simpler than needed, doing something to it that would deform the originally positive. What Tolstoi proposes is something else, the ‘o-proshchenie’, the act of returning to the original prostota. Although there is no space in Donna Orwin’s latest book for anecdotes, such as the episodes with Orlenev, or for comment on specific schools of interpretation, her book brings the original, gloriouss prostota of Tolstoi’s biography, art and thought vividly into focus across the eight chapters covering the main events of Tolstoi’s life and afterlife — without even a trace of the ‘u-proshchenie’ that would seem inevitable in such a short study. This readable introduction, unburdened by the technicalities of specialty studies peculiar to individual disciplines and fields, is a product of the knowledge and skill of a consummate, clear-eyed master. We hear a personal voice in this wise distillation of Orwin’s lifelong dedication to Tolstoi as scholar, mentor and teacher. Based on her incomparably deep knowledge of Tolstoi’s oeuvre, his biography and historical environment, and being as up-to-date as possible in acknowledging the most recent criticism, this book presents a great resource for all categories of readers interested in Tolstoi. Literary Studies, Eugene Lang College & Inessa Medzhibovskaya Liberal Studies, The New School for Social Research Bethea, David M. and Frank, Siggy (eds). Vladimir Nabokov in Context. Cambridge University Press, Cambridge and New York, 2018. xv + 320 pp. Illustrations. Notes. Further reading. Index. £74.99. Vladimir Nabokov in Context, edited by David Bethea and Siggy Frank, follows in the footsteps, some five decades later, of the first collection of critical essays on Nabokov edited by L. S. Dembo (Nabokov: The Man and his Work, Madison, WI, 1967). The aim of this volume, which features a star-studded field of Nabokov scholars is, to quote from the editors’ introduction, to ‘anchor Nabokov more firmly in the social, historical and cultural contexts of his time’ (p. 3). The book consists of four parts complemented by a ‘Further Reading’ section which provides bibliographical listings related to the themes of each chapter. The first two parts, ‘Identity’ and ‘Places’, are essentially biographical. ‘Identity’ deals with key aspects of Nabokov’s existence: his childhood, his relationship to women and to academia as well as fundamental aspects of his authorial persona. ‘Places’, as the title indicates, focuses on a geographically rich life which took Nabokov from St Petersburg to Montreux via Cambridge, REVIEWS 361 Berlin, Paris and ‘the crazy quilt of forty-eight [US] states’. The third part of the volume considers the central question of Nabokov’s relationship to literature and art. Alexander Dolinin and Siggy Frank explore the Russian elements of Nabokov’s literary career, while Michael Wood and Duncan White examine its American phase. The connection between Nabokov’s works and detective fiction is also analysed convincingly by Michael Oklot and Matthew Walker. The final section covers the area of ideas and culture including, amongst other stimulating contributions, an article by Stephen Blackwell about Nabokov’s achievements as an entomologist and, more broadly, his ‘insatiable curiosity’ in the sciences at large, from quantum theory and particle physics to psychology. Vladimir Nabokov in Context offers a competent and highly readable exploration of the complex relationship between the man and his work in the global context of his time. Some of the contributions approach Nabokov from more unusual perspectives — Julian Connolly’s ‘Friends and Foes’, Ann Komaromi’s ‘Samizdat and Tamizdat’, or Leonid Livak’s ‘Jewishness as Literary Device in Nabokov’s Fiction’ — which makes the volume all the more thought-provoking. Despite the undoubted quality of the collection, it is marred in places by the odd minor shortcoming. This is perhaps to be expected in a genre which relies on the capacity to draw connections between text and context and so demands a keen sense of synthesis. At first glance nothing would seem simpler than contextualizing, but appearances can be deceptive, for it is a difficult task, especially when it comes to drawing bridges between an author’s life and...