NABOKV-L discussion

 WILLIAM MORRIS

I’d like to share a “find” for another possible source for Pale Fire.  (see my post of July 20 for Laughten Osborn’s Visions of Rubeta as possible source. I don’t see these conflicting in any way; an Indra’s Net of multiple allusions reflecting each other seems to be a major motif in PF)

Zachary Ross (my son) has just come across a very interesting article that I believe suggests an important source for Pale Fire:

https://www.laphamsquarterly.org/roundtable/ass-foretold

Kinbote’s commentary 149 mentions two islands, “Nitra and Indra” (meaning ‘inner’ and outer’), “two black islets that seemed to address each other in cloaked parley…”

I believe these refer to two Hindu gods, Nidra and Indra.  Nabokov may have used a different transliteration for Nidra (Nitra), or he may have decided to play a little word-golf in order to obfuscate the meaning in order to have the reader dig deeper into the fact that ‘Nidra” and “Indra” are anagrams.

From Eric Naiman:

For those of us who teach or admire Lolita, Anne Dwyer (Pomona College) has published an eloquent defense of the novel.

https://www.insidehighered.com/views/2018/05/14/teaching-lolita-still-appropriate-opinion

Subject: great beaver, Sudarg of Bokay, Italian despot, consonne d'appui & Pope in Pale Fire

This  message  was originally  submitted  by  alainfchamplain@GMAIL.COM 

Who did/do you think Gerald Emerald was referring to when he said “I guess
Mr. Shade has already left with the Great Beaver," in the Foreword?

I always thought the joke was obvious, but I've come across several
theories involving Castor and Pollux, Castro, Shakespearean armor — none of
which have mentioned the heart of the bit.

At this risk of stating the obvious: