4One of the best versions of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland in any language, this translation by the world-renowned author Vladimir Nabokov is beyond doubt the finest Russian translation. It is clear, witty, and wonderfully readable -- a perfect book for students learning Russian and for anyone who wants to refresh his knowledge of the language.
The translation of Alice has always presented a special problem. The narrative excitement of the child's book and the logical sense and nonsense of the adult's plus the flavor of the English puns and parodies must all be preserved. Famous for his own lucid prose style and his exceptionally clever use of puns, Nabokov handles all aspects of this translation with great skill. His version is not only accurate and faithful in the passages that are susceptible of straight translation, but also delightfully imaginative wherever the English text features a pun, parody, or other linguistic tour de force.
First published in Berlin in 1923, this translation was Nabokov's first full-length translation and his first substantial publication of any kind. Since then he has earned an international reputation as a master novelist for his works in Russian and in English.