603: Nabokov’s Pnin: The ‘Nice Guy’ Who Finishes Last?

You might remember the Police referring to “that book by Nabokov.” Well this isn’t it. It’s an earlier book about a Russian immigrant.

With special guest Longinus, the boys drink and review “Dance of Days” IPA by Atlas Brew Works, then take on Vladimir Nabokov’s Pnin — a novel that’s equal parts frustrating, funny, and quietly devastating.

At first glance, Timofey Pnin looks like a classic “nice guy who finishes last”: awkward, socially out of place, and constantly overlooked. But as we dig deeper, the question becomes harder to answer. Is Pnin really a loser, or is he one of the only genuinely decent people in the story?

We explore:

• Whether Pnin is a victim of others… or of the narrator himself
• The role of the unreliable narrator and what it does to your perception of the story
• The strange structure of the novel—more like a series of vignettes than a traditional plot
• The tension between Pnin’s outward awkwardness and the profound suffering underneath
• Why this might be a book you appreciate more after reading it than while reading it

We also wrestle with a bigger question: what’s the relationship between intelligence, social success, and moral worth?

And of course, we start with a beer.

If you’ve ever struggled through a “classic” and wondered what you were missing, this one’s for you.