Dear Alexey,
1. "I read only a few chapters of "The Philosophy of
Mysticism" (1885)... and those chapters strike me, like Victor's
tongue-twister, as strangely Pale Fire-relevant."
Do you read Nabokov as if he 'd been a
mystic?
2. Victor's observations about Charles/Karl...I could add that
Kinbote's uncle Conmal addresses him once as karlik, which is Russian for
"dwarf."
Two days ago I underlined the word "fascicle" in one of
VN's sentences in ADA, a term I usually associate with
...serial books. When I stopped to check, I was surprised not to find it
mentioned in two of my pocket Webster's, but in the OCD it
carried the meaning I had in mind, plus its Latin derivations ( fasciculus)
and political applications (fascism). I doubt that VN would
have overlooked these associative bunches.
Conmal's address to Charles, as "karlik" (dwarf in
Russian) now made me think of another powerful grandfather addressing
his heir as "Caligula" ( "little boots" in Italian). I have no idea if Kinbote
"indexed" this too ( pointed with his index finger) by playing
with "karlik", nor if VN's intentions were ever more than
angry, but loose political allusions.