NABOKV-L discussion

I mentioned recently, in my post "A FEW BRIEF NOTES ON SPACETIME IN PALE FIRE," that "twice removed" might in part be a joke about John and Sybil Shade being related. Two pertinent lines:

"[...] and you would be
In your own study, twice removed from me,”
(Lines 365-366)

“John Shade’s wife [...] was a few months his senior. I understand she came of Canadian stock, as did Shade’s maternal grandmother (a first cousin of Sybil’s grandfather, if I am not greatly mistaken).”
(From note to line 247)

While searching for Nabokovian items in a new digital archive, I happened upon the attached ad for Swan fountain pens, with a quote from Nabokov's father. The ad campaign is mentioned by VN on page 255 (Chapter 13) of Speak, Memory, though his recollection of the art doesn't match the version here. Enjoy.

Matt Roth

I have been very busy with Hopkins but here's a brief note that might please some. It seems like Prof. Kinbote's commentary to line 803 of Shade's poem entitled "misprint" has a precedence in another poet's musings. Kinbote writes:

PALE FIRE is a pastiche of parody, drawing from many sources. My particular focus has been Jungian archetypes and alchemy. Of course it is well known that the satirical poets of the 18th Century, Pope, Swift and Johnson comprise a major constituents in Nabokov’s “bursting spongebag” novel. They each made fun of the alchemy of the day. I admit to not knowing much about these men, so I’m doing some catch-up and discovering some interesting things that support my theories.

What else can we know of Sasha Chorny, who according to D.S.

Gerard De Vries, I want to thank you for your recent posts about Sybil and Huguenot Protestantism. It has helped me find another link to forge in my Jungian/alchemic theories of Pale Fire.

Puritans in Pale Fire

by Gerard de Vries

The Mad Hatter’s Hats

Unpacking the Nested Hat Boxes

                  inside

Vladimir Nabokov’s Semi-Autobiographies

                  Part I

In the light of discussions (and the surge in activity) presented by both Gerard de Vries’ essay and Mary Ross’s comments, I wish to offer here, my two Indian cents.

by Gerard de Vries