Annotations by Alexey Sklyarenko

The action in VN's novel Ada (1969) takes place on Demonia, Earth's twin planet also known as Antiterra. According to Van Veen (the narrator and main character in Ada), the real destination of poor mad Aqua (the twin sister of Van's, Ada's and Lucette's mother Marina) was Terra the Fair:

At the age of ten Armande (in VN's novel Transparent Things, 1972, Hugh Person's wife) was the dream of a Lutwidgean:

"Everything is well," she declared cozily, and stood up, now robed in bright terry cloth with the suddenness of a magic metamorphosis. "Come, I want to offer you a nice cold drink and show you my albums."

A character in VN's novel Transparent Things (1972), Mister R. (an American writer whom Hugh Person visits in Switzerland) has a long German name, in two installments, with a nobiliary particle between castle and crag:

When Van Veen (the narrator and main character in VN's novel Ada, 1969) offers Ada a ride in the park, she tells him that last night two men (one of whom was Anskar, the producer) recognized her:

‘Now let’s go out for a breath of crisp air,’ suggested Van. ‘I’ll order Pardus and Peg to be saddled.’

Describing his journey with Lucette (Van’s and Ada’s half-sister) onboard Admiral Tobakoff, Van Veen (the narrator and main character in VN's novel Ada, 1969) mentions Mr and Mrs Dairs or Sardi:

In VN’s novel Lolita (1955) Dolores Haze (Lolita's name on the dotted line) attends Beardsley School for girls:

The characters in VN's novel Ada (1969) include Philip Rack, Lucette's music teacher and composer who was poisoned by his jealous wife Elsie and who dies in Ward Five (where hopeless cases are kept) of the Kalugano hospital:

The father of the twins Aqua and Marina, General Ivan Durmanov (in VN's novel Ada, 1969, Van's, Ada's and Lucette's grandfather) owned lands in the Severn Tories (Severnïya Territorii):

When Van and Ada (the two main characters in VN's novel Ada, 1969) watch Kim Beauharnais's album, Ada mentions Love under the Lindens by one Eelmann transported into English by Thomas Gladstone:

But what about the rare radiance on those adored lips? Bright derision can easily grade, through a cline of glee, into a look of rapture:

Before the family dinner in "Ardis the Second" Van Veen (the narrator and main character in VN's novel Ada, 1969) tells Demon (Van's and Ada's father) that he looks satanically fit, especially with that fresh carnation in his lapel eye:

Demon shed his monocle and wiped his eyes with the modish lace-frilled handkerchief that lodged in the heart pocket of his dinner jacket. His tear glands were facile in action when no real sorrow made him control himself.