Subject
Bend Sinister's Lagodan Pass (fwd)
Date
Body
Grigori Utgof
Tallinn University of Educational Sciences, Estonia
utgof@lin2.tpu.ee
I would like to point out that the Lagodan mountains, mentioned in
Vladimir Nabokov's _Bend Sinister_ , could not only have certain
connection with Ladoga and Magadan, but also include a hint on gloomy
spirit of inprisonment that is very characteristic of both the places.
There was a number of GULAG branches in Magadan, the centre of griveously
known Kolyma, and Noteborg ( Oreshek ) fortress, standing by the
Ladozhskoje Ozero, used to be one of the most terrible jails in the times
of Russian Empire. It is also noteworthy that Olga's name is anagrammed in
the first letters of the word LAGOdan ( compare with the anagramm of the
word ardor in such fictional toponim as Bra d'Ora in _Ada_ ) .