Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0011287, Tue, 29 Mar 2005 16:34:35 -0800

Subject
Fwd: Ilium
Date
Body
Dear Don and List...

Forgive me if this is old hat and I'm simply making a fool of myself. But
I was having a free read in a Johannesburg bookshop last night and I came
across an SF opus by a writer called Dan Simmons, entitled "Ilium". It
seems to leap back and forth from the Trojan War to some distant future,
where a character called Daeman travels to an Ardis Hall, intent on
seducing the lady of the manor -- the creamy-skinned, sensuous,
raven-haired, ultra-cultivated Ada. They discuss lepidopterology. It's too
blatant to be plagiarism, so does it count as a VN sighting? When I got to
page 50, Exclusive Books closed, so I was left in limbo. Does anyone have
a comment?

Hope you're all well...

Tom (Rymour)

----- End forwarded message -----

EDNOTE. 'Tis indeed a legitimate VN sighting. Dan Simmons is apparently a
high-end S-F writer. I amazoned him and see he quotes Proust as well.