Please read Alexey Sklyarenko's annotations on Pale Fire, Ada and other Nabokov works here.
Annotations by Alexey Sklyarenko
In her letter to Van Veen (the narrator and main character in VN's novel Ada, 1969) that Lucette (Van's and Ada's half-sister) brings to Kingston (Van's American University) Ada says that something is very wrong with the Ladore line:
- Read more about katrakatra (quatre à quatre) in Ada
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According to Humbert Humbert (the narrator and main character in VN's novel Lolita, 1955), his trying to improve on Charlotte's sauces resulted in an upset stomach:
- Read more about sauces & immortality in Lolita
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In his Foreword to Humbert Humbert’s manuscript John Ray, Jr. (a character in VN's novel Lolita, 1955) mentions his good friend and relation, Clarence Choate Clark, Esq. (Humbert’s lawyer):
During Van’s first tea party at Ardis Marina (in VN’s novel Ada, 1969, Van’s, Ada’s and Lucette’s mother) says that, as a girl, she used to love history and mentions Dostoevski:
- Read more about reading History (Sale Histoire) at Chose
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In his Foreword to Humbert Humbert's manuscript John Ray, Jr. (a character in VN's novel Lolita, 1955) mentions his modest work (“Do the Senses make Sense?”) wherein certain morbid states and perversions had been discussed:
- Read more about certain morbid states & perversions in Lolita
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Describing his first arrival at Ardis, Van Veen (the narrator and main character in VN's novel Ada, 1969) mentions Torfyanka, a dreamy hamlet consisting of three or four log izbas, a milkpail repair shop and a smithy smothered in jasmine:
- Read more about smithy smothered in jasmine in Ada
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According to Van Veen (the narrator and main character in VN's novel Ada, 1969), the pink-blooming chestnuts of Chose (Van's English University) always induced in him an amorous mood:
- Read more about Van's amorous mood in Ada
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Describing his first erotic experience at Riverlane (Van's boarding school), Van Veen (the narrator and main character in VN's novel Ada, 1969) mentions the round creamy charms of Bronzino’s Cupid:
- Read more about round creamy charms of Bronzino’s Cupid in Ada
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Describing the picnic on Ada's twelfth birthday, when he walks on his hands for the first time, Van Veen (the narrator and main character in VN's novel Ada, 1969) compares his Riverlane boarding school to a prison:
- Read more about Van's first prison term & Chose University in Ada
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In her letter to Van Veen (the narrator and main character in VN's novel Ada, 1969) Ada Vinelander (Van's sister and lover who is now married to Andrey Vinelander) says that her sister-in-law, Dorothy Vinelander (Dasha), finished Chose where she read History:
- Read more about reading History at Chose in Ada
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