Rating: 
Summary: Just Get It
Review:
This book is quite short. In fact, it is so short that you have absolutely no excuse for not buying it to find out, for yourself, if it really is worth 5 stars.
This is the work that turned me on to Nobokov. After reading this I was awestricken. The storyline, the mysteries, surprises, and most of all the descriptive power in this book are phenomenal.
By the way, it is.
Rating: 
Summary: Fascinating and surreal
Review: Closer to four-and-a-half stars. Spectacular; for a novel that tips in at just over one-hundred pages, "The Eye" is a marvel of imagery and literary sleight-of-hand. Nabokov, one of the most deviously ingenious writers of the 20th century, offers this short, but striking insight into the protean nature of human identity. Through the character of Smurov--a suicide victim whose thoughts go on even after his death--Nabokov explores the psyche of Everyman, the manifold ways in which we perceive ourselves, and are perceived by others. Standing outside his body, the detached first-person narrator observes himself (Smurov) in his daily interactions with others and longs to learn more about himself by learning how others see him. But even beyond its philosophical/existential implications, "The Eye" is simply great fun to read. Nabokov's writing, even in translation, is beautiful and his deft manipulation of character is unparalleled. It is unlikely that you will find another novel that delivers as much bang for the literary buck.
Rating:
Summary: Fascinating and surreal
Review: Closer to four-and-a-half stars. Spectacular; for a novel that tips in at just over one-hundred pages, "The Eye" is a marvel of imagery and literary sleight-of-hand. Nabokov, one of the most deviously ingenious writers of the 20th century, offers this short, but striking insight into the protean nature of human identity. Through the character of Smurov--a suicide victim whose thoughts go on even after his death--Nabokov explores the psyche of Everyman, the manifold ways in which we perceive ourselves, and are perceived by others. Standing outside his body, the detached first-person narrator observes himself (Smurov) in his daily interactions with others and longs to learn more about himself by learning how others see him. But even beyond its philosophical/existential implications, "The Eye" is simply great fun to read. Nabokov's writing, even in translation, is beautiful and his deft manipulation of character is unparalleled. It is unlikely that you will find another novel that delivers as much bang for the literary buck.
Rating:
Summary: more fun than his previous three novels, overly cute
Review: I get the impression that Nabakov began shifting directions with this brief novel, a wild farce about disillusion and indifference to the world and one's protective ability to seperate yourself from reality. Certainly there is more of a plot than in Mary, King, Queen, Knave or The Defense, and it is just as gorgeously written. It's really quite entertaining and filled with what (I suspect) grew to become Vlad's unique voice. The only criticism I could give The Eye is the clear swagger of an extraordinarily arrogant author who is basically showing off his talent with the wrong story. Hey, yeah, we know (knew) he could write well, but such a minor work is not the best showcase for the unrestrained pretentiousness I'm beginning to fear as I continue along my path of reading each one of Nabakov's novels. Basically this is a pleasent chuckle followed by a disconcerted 'uh-oh'.
Rating:
Summary: Nabokov--a delicious delight and the apple of my eye
Review: I just finished The Eye by Vladimir Nabokov. The book is short, only 111 pages, but a delightful psychological insight into human existence. Nabokov's poetry is rare and special---especially considering in translation a masterpiece's is beauty can be distorted. Nabokov spent a good bit of time translation considering Vladimir worked with Dmitri Nabokov in the translation to maintain the authenticity. Nabokov's poetry is rich and ripe with imagery. Nabokov willfully admits in the introduction that "my books are not only blessed by a total lack of social significance", but freely admits the psychological significance, which may not in theory, but nonetheless mirrors that of his predecessor Dostoyevsky. Smurov is a ingeniously transient character, who in the end makes the reader consider his own relationships and the eye with which a person is seen, and with which a person views. The book emphasizes the psychological concept of the self and our self-concept in a time when the theory was in its infancy.Concluding excerpt from the novel: For I do not exist: there exist but thousands of mirrors that reflect me. With every acquaintance I make, the populations of phantoms resembling me increases. Somewhere, they live somewhere they multiply. I alone do not exist. I cannot say enough positive things about the story. Nabokov so concisely exact in his wording, but maintains a simple poetry that confounds the mind and does not leave you questioning the world around you, but the world inside of you.
Rating:
Summary: Not his best, but essential
Review: In later works, Nabokov mused on the nature of identity with sharper, more amusing, and more penetrating results. But this book, by my count, was his first lengthy foray into the subject. In Smurov, he created a character whose self-image is an attempt at an amalgamation of the Smurov's everyone who knows him sees. A fun meditation on the importance of the opinions of others and a compelling death story. Much more, of course. And, of course, beautiful, beautiful.
Rating: 
Summary: A Surreal So-and-so
Review: Let me preface this by saying I have never read Nabokov, and am only familiar with him thru second-hand knowledge of his works: that is, until reading 'The Eye'. He has quite a following of pretentious college students, and now I can see why. This book is not that great, but supposedly this is not his best work, so it's to be expected. I found that it was empty and devoid of meaning, but written in such a way as to make you think there was some sort of meaning behind it. Nabokov just threw together some very 'deep' thoughts and had the protagonist use irony to appeal to the sardonic in all of his readers. I've seen this done much better in REAL detective novels such as Chandler's, for crying out loud! This is literary? Literary my eye! (pun intended)
Rating: 
Summary: fair to middling
Review: This is not a great novella in my reading, but it has some of the Nab's typical themes: deception, living in the imagination that merges disturbingly with reality, and the simple bizarre. Sometimes I get tired of how many pathetic characters there are in Nabokov's novels and that was the case with this one; it is set among the emigre set perpetually mourning the loss of tzarist Russia, which is of limited interest. Moreover, for sticklers (and lovers) of Nabokov's inimitable style, this is a translated work and as with virtually all of the others, something is lost - I found it very flat, almost two dimensional. Recommended tepidly, but true Nabokov devotees will probably like it.
Rating:
Summary: fair to middling
Review: This is not a great novella in my reading, but it has some of the Nab's typical themes: deception, living in the imagination that merges disturbingly with reality, and the simple bizarre. Sometimes I get tired of how many pathetic characters there are in Nabokov's novels and that was the case with this one; it is set among the emigre set perpetually mourning the loss of tzarist Russia, which is of limited interest. Moreover, for sticklers (and lovers) of Nabokov's inimitable style, this is a translated work and as with virtually all of the others, something is lost - I found it very flat, almost two dimensional. Recommended tepidly, but true Nabokov devotees will probably like it.
Rating:
Summary: Humbert Humbert In Embryo
Review: This is the best novel of Nabokov's I've read since Lolita. Though not as fine a work as that great novel by far you can see in the main character Smurov echoes of the later protagonist. What is more, being such a short book it is not too great an investment of your time.
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