Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0010892, Wed, 5 Jan 2005 09:48:50 -0800

Subject
Fwd: Ada or Ardor: Wikipedia entry (+ H G Wells)
Date
Body
Dear All,

Hello, I notice that the issue of the Wikipedia entry for 'Ada' has cropped up
on the list. This is
just to mention that I am the author of the 'Plot Summary' section of this entry
(as it stands), which
gives an overview of Ada's narrative structure. I wrote it in about 15-20 mins
last month, and I've
only read Ada cover-to-cover once, so I'd be happy to see someone more familiar
with it give
Ada's entry a quick going-over.

Even for the plot points I've remembered accurately, my phrasing is perhaps not
all that it could
be. My description of the plot of Part 4, for example, is somewhat clumsy to
say the least.

The entry is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ada_or_Ardor:_A_Family_Chronicle

( Nabokov's overall entry is here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nabokov )

In addition, if anyonce could put in a couple of paragraphs on 'Themes' in Ada,
that would be
great (hmm... reminds me of the Monty Python's Flying Circus "Summarise Proust"
competition).

(As a side note: VN of course felt that HG Wells was one of the great underrated
talents... VN fans
who have limited exposure to Wells might be interested in the upcoming glut of
Wells tomes from
Penguin Classics, coming this spring:
http://www.penguinclassics.co.uk/static/cs/uk/10/html/
hgwells.html , including some relatively obscure titles, with nice introductory
essays from the
looks of things)

Cheers!
Andy

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