Nabokov, Amis, Atta

[MalignD at aol.com]

<< When you read Nabokov's 'American' novels do you feel that they are 
written 
 by a non-native speaker? I would say that his syntax sometimes is more 
 Russian than English. >>

Nabokov himself said that he felt at a disadvantage for not being a native 
speaker when it came to dialog and I think that's accurate.  I don't think it's 
stilted or bad, but it's not something one singles out for praise

As for his narrative prose, I don't think that he sounds non-native.  And I 
think there are many many native-speaking writers who dream of commanding a 
style like that.