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Cover of Invitation to a Beheading

Invitation to a Beheading

Vladimir Nabokov (1959)

SubgenreSword & Sorcery

Age groupAdult 18+

Content ratingR

Pages (Quick Read (<250))

Setting

CSM age18+

Goodreads3.92

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Content levels

ViolenceStrong

Sexual contentNone

LanguageMild

Trigger warnings

Death Captivity Execution Isolation Anxiety Mental Manipulation

Positive tags

Self-Discovery Philosophical

Hero archetypes

Exile Outcast / Loner

Protagonist archetypes

Tortured Protagonist Reluctant Hero

Tropes

Unreliable Narrator Fish out of Water Kafkaesque Absurdist Fantasy

Themes

Absurdism Reality vs Illusion Totalitarianism Individual vs Society Existentialism Freedom and Confinement Identity

Synopsis

A surreal story about a man who has been sentenced to death by beheading for the crime of "gnostical turpitude."

Tags

Literary FantasyPhilosophical FictionDystopianSurrealismAllegory