Rating: 
Summary: sad and wonderful
Review: A book that needs to be read at least twice. The wild story about Zembla is a sop to the real beauty and tragedy of the poem, 'Pale Fire'. That is the core of the book and what is Nabokov's idea of art as opposed to what people want to read (the more 'exciting' tale of Kinbote's madness).
Rating:
Summary: Speak for own witless self, Mr. Alexandria, VA
Review: The man from Virginia, two reviews down from this one, is a superficial bore who relies on weasel words and inexact detail to back up his undeserved opinions. His comments are watery and suspiciously defensive. First he says he "agree[s] with much of the praise everyone has given the book ... there was at least one part where I couldn't stop laughing." But he feels guilty -- "these thrills I would compare to the time you were a kid and put a handmirror behind your back in a barber shop and saw infinite reflections of yourself. If that's all it takes to make you happy, this is the book for you." A book, in other words, for people whose standards are as low as his."The only real point one might derive from this book is a sense of the subjectivity of life." This is utter foolishness. How lazy does a reader have to be to glean such a useless message from such a tremendously complex book? The points of the book are myriad, having to do with (among other things) grief, loneliness, the possibilities of reinvention, and the earthly means of achieving life after death. For over 30 years, good, thoughtful and creative readers have found this book an endless source of delight, interest and inspiration. Read it several times with your eyes wide open and your senses alert. This is a true tour-de-force, a peerless one-of-a-kind, once-in-a-lifetime book -- not just a novel, but an adventure.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible
Review: To anyone who has ever doubted the literary merit of Vladimir Nabokov, read Pale Fire. More than once. To anyone who has ever wondered if creativity was on the wane, read Pale Fire. More than once.
Rating: 
Summary: Not to be a party pooper but
Review: After seeing the 5-stars everyone else has given this book, I feel it's my duty to issue a caveat. I agree with much of the praise everyone has given the book. It's filled all sorts of funny things, a few sad and melancholy things, and there was at least one part where I couldn't stop laughing. It was also interesting to see how Nabokov maneuvered his way around the perspectives of the two main characters, both of whom are endearing in their own different ways. However, these thrills I would compare to the time you were a kid and put a handmirror behind your back in a barber shop and saw infinite reflections of yourself. If that's all it takes to make you happy, this is the book for you. Don't expect too much depth or symbolism or allegory. The joy of the book is all on the surface. Comparisons of this work to "Ulysses" are a bit unfair. "Pale Fire" has a complexity because it contains a number of perspectives, nice intermittent details, and interesting interactions between characters, but in my book that's all one level (two at the most). The only real point one might derive from this book is a sense of the subjectivity of life. Ulysses was complicated on the surface but much deeper in its exploration of existence and meaning. So basically what I'm saying is this: "Pale Fire" is a good read that will force you to think, but it won't alter your life.
Rating:
Summary: Comedic and Literary Genius
Review: This novel/poem works on so many levels it definitely requires more than one read. A friend once described reading James Joyce's ULYSSES like trying to juggle a hundred balls at once, you will never achieve that in one sitting, but with each reading your appreciation deepens. While Palefire may not contain one hundred balls to juggle, Nabokov has packed this work with enough angles and double and triple entendres to joyfully occupy readers on all levels. This book should occupy a unique place in twentieth century literature. It can be at once a hilarious comedy, a deeply troubling psychological tragedy, a historical thriller, and simply a work of lyrical and lingusitic beauty. This ios the book that convinced me of Nabokov's genius. What he has accomplished is this: disguised a masterpiece as a frivolous, pompous, poorly written, often unorganized, almost schizophrenic teenage attempt at "great literature". READER PLEASE DO NOT BE FOOLED. If you find yourself having any of these reactions to the book, the joke is on you, and Nabokov, I am sure, would have wanted that anyway.
Rating:
Summary: wow
Review: The first time I read this book I thought it was very funny. The second time I read this book it made me cry. The third time I read it I laughed and cried and shivered with a sense that its ghosts were physically in my presence. I have read it at least ten times, and still pick it up almost every year.
Rating:
Summary: Pale Fire so good it's hard to take anyother novel seriously
Review: "If divinity resides in the written word, then Pale Fire proves the existence of God" - This I believe, and I'm an agnostic at best! I first read Pale Fire in 1977, and was totally seduced by its word play and the sheer joyous literate inventiveness of passage after passage, not to mention the hall-of-mirrors plot. Since then I have reread it at least a dozen times and have never been able to take any other modern author seriously. In a "Fahrenheit 451"-type world, this would surely be the work I would commit to memory. Nabobov's tastes are my tastes, I cherish Proust and Samuel Johnson and you will find many allusions to both in Pale Fire. For example Johnson (quoted by Boswell) describes Kinbote to a T: "All grief for what cannot in the course of nature be helped soon passes; in some sooner, indeed, in some later; but it never continues very long, unless where there is madness, such as will make a man have pride so fixed in his mind, as to imagine himself a king, or any other passion in an unreasonable way..." Years and years later I keep digging out these allusions that Nabokov has planted, and no critic seems to have noticed! My dream is that someday some genius will manage to put this novel on film - closest folks I could see doing it would be the Coen Brothers.
Rating:
Summary: Wow! Twisted, convoluted, incredible!
Review: What an amazing piece of writing. Nabokov always crafts books with interesting twists, plays on words, and hidden foreshadowing, but PALE FIRE is possibly my favorite of his books. It is wonderful -- an excellent story inside an excellent story inside an excellent story. I read it twice straight through, and now I go back for a re-read every once in a while. It is immensely satisfying. If you are looking for an easy read, the top plot will probably be great for you. But if you're looking for something more, this book HAS it! Wonderfully intricate and very worthwhile.
Rating:
Summary: A wholly original concept, masterfully executed.
Review: A key feature of this book is its unconventional construction, which I hesitate to discuss so that it may unfold as intended before the new reader. Those who have been taken by other Nabokov creations will cheer as the story skips off down a wacky road, gathers speed, and gallops with full imaginative dementia. As always, Nabokov's use of language is stunning.
Rating:
Summary: One to think over
Review: I had to read this novel as an assignment for a graduate seminar. At the time, I read it, discussed it in class, and enjoyed it, I guess. Since then, however, I have almost become obsessed with it: reading it and re-reading it. I don't know why. The thing that sticks in my mind most is this: English wasn't Nabokov's first language, and he writes more beautifully than native speakers. If you read the book for no other reason than to see what our language can do, that is enough.
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