Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0001554, Fri, 13 Dec 1996 09:50:04 -0800

Subject
Re: Obsession in LOLITA and Pnin
Date
Body
On Thu, 12 Dec 1996, Roy Johnson wrote:


>Dear Dr Roy Johnson,

> >>I am planning on analysing the Pnin narrator with regard to the 'unreliable
> >>narrator', which I believe Nick Carraway is too.
>
> NC might be unreliable, but at least he is a significant
> character in the events which he relates to us. The 'outer'
> narrator of PNIN is not.
>
> > I have only looked into Gatsby so far, I am
> >>finding it difficult to gather any criticism about Pnin,and so cannot put
> >>forward my 'Pnin narrator and obsession' link strongly.
>
> this confirms my fear (on your behalf) that it might not
> be a profitable idea to pursue
>
> if i were your supervisor, i would suggest you re-think the
> idea, looking for examples of *really* unreliable narrators -
> of which there are plenty
>
> --
> Roy Johnson
>