Thinking of having an affair? Of leaving your partner? Think again. Think of Nabokov's 'Laughter in the Dark' (Book Review)

'ONCE upon a time there lived in Berlin, Germnay, a man called Albinus. He was rich, respectable, happy; one day he abandoned his wife for the sake of a youthful mistress; he loved; was not loved; and his life ended in disaster'

Thus begins Vladimir Nabokov's novel Laughter in the Dark. I love the no-nonsense-style of this exposition. More importantly, on a simple plot level, as a reader you know what will occur during the duration of the novel - leaving all this 'thinking space' which would have otherwise been occupied with the one million dollar question: 'what happens next?'

It is the story of a man called Albinus. He has fulfilled his version of the 'American Dream' - except of course he is German! Albinus has achieved success (ish), recognition amongst his group of friends, wife, kid, family home and so on. As the exposition states, he throws it all away for a young woman (16 years old?) called Margot Peters.

Margot is vulgar, from the wrong side of the social scale and uneducated. Now these are faults we could easily overlook had it not been for her manipulative and vicious nature. Yes, if you've not realised it yet - the characters are somewhat stereotypical and perhaps it is for this reason that I did not care about the fate of any of the characters.

For Margot, Albinus abandons his wife and daughter. His daughter dies of pneumonia, a cruel punishment for his actions. Margot's former lover, Rex (as superficial as she is) befriends Albinus. Rex tells him that he is only interested in men and in light of this 'truth' Albinus trusts him. More fool him because not only do Rex and Margot sneak around behind his back but they also almost succeed in robbing Albinus of every penny he has. I may or may not tell you the ending, it depends on how cruel I feel. :-)

Rex accompanies Margot and Albinus on holiday. Out of sheer coincidence - missing the bus back to the village and a chance encounter with an old acquaintance, Albinus discovers that Margot has been unfaithful with Rex. Albinus' first reaction is to kill her but Margot convinces him (sort of) that it isn't true, she hasn't been unfaithful to him with Rex. Albinus orders Margot to pack and they speed of into the sunset without Rex. And live happily ever after.

Not quite.

The viewpoint suddenly changes and the next chapter describes an accident an old woman witnesses - one that she would be telling years to come. Whilst trying to speed off, Albinus crashes the car. Both survive.

But Albinus loses his sight, he is blind. Hands up if you saw this coming - you know, Oedipal punishment, symbolic castration, too much sex makes you blind - and so on.

Margot and Albinus move to Switzerland. Albinus, because he is blind is completely reliant on Margot. Rex also lives with them and likes to tease the blind Albinus by his presence.

Back in Germany, Albinus' brother-in-law and friend, Paul, receives a bank statement and sees that Albinus seems to be withdrawing and signing large amount of money. Convinced something 'shady' is going on he decides to investigate.

He arrives at Albinus' home one day, to find Rex sitting naked in front of Albinus and teasing him by tapping him and the blind man assumes it is a fly or a bodily sensation. Paul calls out to Rex. Albinus becomes agitated as it dawns on him the full extent of Margot's deception - and his stupidity. Paul and Albinus leave together for Germany.

Perhaps it is in the final 'shoot-out' that this novels best resembles Lolita. Back in Germany Albinus is living with his (ex?) wife and brother-in-law. One day he discovers Margot is back at their old 'love nest'. He decides to pay her a visit - with a gun. The perspective changes beautifully - Nabokov only tells us what Albinus can see, which ironically is very little. He tries to sense Margot's movements and fires in different corners and walls. There is a struggle for the gun.

Does Margot finally get what she deserves? Or is Albinus put out of his misery?

I'm not telling you! I've done most of your homework!

Would I recommend Laughter in Dark? Definitely. It is beautifully written, not too lengthy and some great comical moments. One such comical moment that sticks out in my head is when Margot and Albinus are on holiday and he is playing with her in the sea. An Englishwoman reading Punch remarks to her husband 'Look at that German romping about with his daughter. Now don't be so lazy, William. Take the children out for a good swim' (p73, Penguin Classics edition). Ha ha. Its laughter in the dark ar right.