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VN's Self-Reference in Pale Fire
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Regarding Shade's litany of hates, Kinbote shares at least a dislike of Freud and fake thinkers (just
see the index and how he continually talks about so-called 'experts'). There are probably more
links that I do not remember now. If one reads the poem followed by the commentary, this
passage will serve as an index of Shade's hates that can be referred back to once the astute reader
notices that the dislike of Freud, for example, was shared by the poet, when they encounter
Kinbote mocking Freud. Since we have highlighted some connections between Nabokov's dislikes
and Shade's in this section, which are shared by Kinbote throughout the commentary, this means
the presence of Nabokov is constantly re-enforced for the reader aware of his biography. So, I
would take this passage's importance, rather than being a part of the poem that jars with the rest,
as being another set of clues for the reader to hunt down the presence of Nabokov throughout the
text.
My idea that 'Professor So-and-so' is Nabokov has no real evidence but I believe that Kinbote
mentions there are four or five professors in Shade's clique and that only a few of them are
named. There are continual references to an unnamed professor and since the world of Pnin
features a version of Nabokov in the narrative, and Pnin exists in the Pale Fire universe, he may
not be the only professor to have transferred to Wordsmith University (as alluded to in Dowling's
article, when talking about the fissure in the note to line 949). Unless I have missed the fact that
all the professors are named, if one is unnamed, it leaves the reader to guess who the professor
is, given the volatile nature of the text. Perhaps he is left unnamed because the author is hinting
at his own presence within in the text.
Also, concerning Botkin as a decoy, what about the autobiographical significance of his name?
Kinbote, an expert on surnames, manages to leave out the fact, pointed out by Brian Boyd, that
Botkin is a distinguished family name, like Nabokov. As well as the surname of the replacement of
V. D. Nabokov, Nabokov's father, as the head of Russian emigre organizations in Berlin, perhaps
the reference point for the conclusion of Pale Fire. Would Nabokov choose a name so connected to
his autobiography for a decoy?
Finally, to add to Nick Greer's list, I can suggest these potential Lolita references from a fresh
reading:
'I like my name: Shade, Ombre, almost "man"' (variant in the note to line 275). A reference to the
potent nature of Humbert Humbert's name for punning
'Modern taximen are as talkative as were the barbers of old' (note to 697). This reminds me of the
barber of Kasbeam sentence in Lolita. This connection is strengthened by Nabokov's assertion that
this sentence was difficult to write, leading me to believe that any further allusions to barbers in
his work probably remind him of that difficulty, and therefore are allusive to this section.
Best,
Simon Rowberry
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see the index and how he continually talks about so-called 'experts'). There are probably more
links that I do not remember now. If one reads the poem followed by the commentary, this
passage will serve as an index of Shade's hates that can be referred back to once the astute reader
notices that the dislike of Freud, for example, was shared by the poet, when they encounter
Kinbote mocking Freud. Since we have highlighted some connections between Nabokov's dislikes
and Shade's in this section, which are shared by Kinbote throughout the commentary, this means
the presence of Nabokov is constantly re-enforced for the reader aware of his biography. So, I
would take this passage's importance, rather than being a part of the poem that jars with the rest,
as being another set of clues for the reader to hunt down the presence of Nabokov throughout the
text.
My idea that 'Professor So-and-so' is Nabokov has no real evidence but I believe that Kinbote
mentions there are four or five professors in Shade's clique and that only a few of them are
named. There are continual references to an unnamed professor and since the world of Pnin
features a version of Nabokov in the narrative, and Pnin exists in the Pale Fire universe, he may
not be the only professor to have transferred to Wordsmith University (as alluded to in Dowling's
article, when talking about the fissure in the note to line 949). Unless I have missed the fact that
all the professors are named, if one is unnamed, it leaves the reader to guess who the professor
is, given the volatile nature of the text. Perhaps he is left unnamed because the author is hinting
at his own presence within in the text.
Also, concerning Botkin as a decoy, what about the autobiographical significance of his name?
Kinbote, an expert on surnames, manages to leave out the fact, pointed out by Brian Boyd, that
Botkin is a distinguished family name, like Nabokov. As well as the surname of the replacement of
V. D. Nabokov, Nabokov's father, as the head of Russian emigre organizations in Berlin, perhaps
the reference point for the conclusion of Pale Fire. Would Nabokov choose a name so connected to
his autobiography for a decoy?
Finally, to add to Nick Greer's list, I can suggest these potential Lolita references from a fresh
reading:
'I like my name: Shade, Ombre, almost "man"' (variant in the note to line 275). A reference to the
potent nature of Humbert Humbert's name for punning
'Modern taximen are as talkative as were the barbers of old' (note to 697). This reminds me of the
barber of Kasbeam sentence in Lolita. This connection is strengthened by Nabokov's assertion that
this sentence was difficult to write, leading me to believe that any further allusions to barbers in
his work probably remind him of that difficulty, and therefore are allusive to this section.
Best,
Simon Rowberry
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/