Vladimir Nabokov

Annotations by Alexey Sklyarenko

Description

Please read Alexey Sklyarenko's annotations on Pale FireAda and other Nabokov works here.

By Alexey Sklyarenko, 6 September, 2022

In his Commentary to Shade’s poem Kinbote (in VN’s novel Pale Fire, 1962, Shade’s mad commentator who imagines that he is Charles the Beloved, the last self-exiled king of Zembla) mentions a decrepit emeritus from Boston whom Professor Hurley described with deep respect as "a true Patrician, a real blue-blooded Brahmin:"

 

By Alexey Sklyarenko, 5 September, 2022

Describing the death of Queen Blenda (in VN’s novel Pale Fire, 1962, the mother of Charles Xavier Vseslav), Kinbote (Shade’s mad commentator who imagines that he is Charles the Beloved, the last self-exiled king of Zembla) mentions Countess de Fyler who beat all seven councilors by one alin and spat out the news about the Queen’s death:

 

By Alexey Sklyarenko, 31 August, 2022

Describing the death of Queen Blenda, Kinbote (in VN’s novel Pale Fire, 1962, Shade’s mad commentator who imagines that he is Charles the Beloved, the last self-exiled king of Zembla) mentions Fifalda and Fleur de Fyler, daughters of Countess de Fyler (Queen Blenda's favorite lady in waiting):

 

By Alexey Sklyarenko, 27 August, 2022

In Canto Three of his poem John Shade (the poet in VN’s novel Pale Fire, 1962) mentions empires of rhyme and Indies of calculus:

 

But who can teach the thoughts we should roll-call

When morning finds us marching to the wall

Under the stage direction of some goon

Political, some uniformed baboon?

We'll think of matters only known to us -

By Alexey Sklyarenko, 24 August, 2022

Before the family dinner in “Ardis the Second” Demon Veen (in VN’s novel Ada, 1969, Van’s and Ada’s father) calls the new kerosene distillery stïd i sram (shame) of our county:

 

By Alexey Sklyarenko, 23 August, 2022

In VN's play Izobretenie Val'sa ("The Waltz Invention," 1938) the Minister of War tells the Colonel that old Perrault died last night and asks the Colonel to remind him tomorrow to speak to Brutus about the pension for the widow: