Annotations by Alexey Sklyarenko

In VN’s novel Priglashenie na kazn’ (“Invitation to a Beheading,” 1935) the mausoleum and the statue of Kapitan Sonnyi (Captain Somnus) are mentioned:

In VN’s novel Priglashenie na kazn’ (“Invitation to a Beheading,” 1935) young Cincinnatus spent the evenings in the Floating Library, in memoriam of Dr Sineokov:

Describing Ada’s eyelids, Van Veen (the narrator and main character in VN’s novel Ada, 1969) uses the phrase v skladochku (pleaty):

In VN’s novel Look at the Harlequins! (1974) Other Books by the Narrator include The Red Top Hat (1934):

Since 1925 I had written and published four novels; by the beginning of 1934 I was on the point of completing my fifth, Krasnyy Tsilindr (The Red Top Hat), the story of a beheading. None of those books exceeded ninety thousand words but my method of choosing and blending them could hardly be called a timesaving expedient. (2.2)

At the dinner in Bellevue Hotel Dorothy Vinelander (in VN’s novel Ada, 1969, Ada’s sister-in-law) invites Van to her brother’s ranch and uses the phrase massa interesnago (heaps of interesting stuff):

In VN’s novel Priglashenie na kazn’ (“Invitation to a Beheading,” 1935) Cincinnatus’s brother-in-law sings from an opera:

The narrator and main character in VN’s novel Otchayanie (“Despair,” 1934), Hermann is a chocolate manufacturer. The trademark on the wrapper of Hermann's chocolate shows dama v lilovom (a lady in lilac), with a fan:

Looking for the title of his manuscript, Hermann (the narrator and main character in Despair) considers Zerkalo ("A Mirror"), Skhodstvo (“The Likeness”) and Poet i chern’ (“The Poet and the Rabble”):

On his way to Koenigsdorf Hermann (the narrator and main character in Despair) meets two schoolboys with unpleasant birdlike features that make him think of voronyata (young crows):

At the beginning of VN’s novel Look at the Harlequins! (1974) Vadim Vadimovich mentions the Glowworm Group directed by Ivor Black, a fine amateur actor: