Matthew Roth (April 09, 2009 on" Sally Beauchamp &
Alexandrov") wrote that he considered "Nabokov's vision of
freedom vs. determinism as analogous to that branch of Christian theology known
as Classical Arminianism... It may be interesting, however, to study those
moments where VN the author/god penetrates into the plane of his characters'
fictional reality. Both Krug and, arguably, VV (in LATH) are driven insane
by that collapsing of levels. Pnin, on the other hand, manages to
escape..."
[QUERY] JM: ... and I hope someone bothers
to answer!
After reading S.Chamberlain's article on PF I got the impression
that, for him, Zembla was not some kind of paradise (created by a delusional
Kinbote) related to an attempt to recreate what's noble, outstanding
and good in Russia. That, for SC, Zembla represented a Soviet Utopia
while Kinbote behaved like soviet
intelligentzia and propaganda.
I feel uncomfortable with this kind of reading, since it flows against
the mainstream of PF commentaries, but I haven't yet managed to find
a correct focus. Has anyone clarifying and different ideas?
btw, I cannot figure out Nabokov's intention when he penetrates
into his fiction to break its spell. In a way he seems to be shielding
the reader from an excess of real pain ( more than protecting himself or a
character). On the other hand, when we laugh at something funny in a novel, do
we usually attribute the joke to a specific character's amusing
qualities? In my case, laughter brings me closer to the author, never to his
creatures. It is something even more direct than the intervention that
brings out Krug's madness. Nabokov planted
ambiguous information, mistakes, misprints, irregular bold letters,
among other items that cause a reader to be aware of an editor or
of an author and, in this way, he was able to interact and manipulate
the reader. Nevertheless, humor and some of his clever moves
("style") seem to escape authorial misguiding intentions and break the
frame that establishes something as "fiction","novel", "past".... On the
unsolved issue of Shadeans versus non-Shadeans (et alii), in Pale
Fire, it is my impression that Nabokov managed to stay aloof ( I mean,
unreachable as an author) exactly because of Kinbote's
interventions.