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> Side remark: the birthday of Gradus is the same as of Shade, > if we believe Kinbote - but why should we?
Dear Sergei Soloviev,
Gradus, Kinbote and Shade all share the same birthday.
But you pose an interesting question - - why should we believe Kinbote? He is our only source of most of the information we have about - - well, nearly everything. If you dismiss his commentary, you are left with only the poem. Can we believe the poem?
I think a more productive question might be - - when should we believe Kinbote? and when should we believe Shade?
e) Anoter side remark: Lukin (rather, Lukina for a woman) is a very common russian surname, I have a friend who has it.
Thanks for support on this.
I also think that VN must have read (or seen the film?)* of Zenda, and there are some references to it as you indicated. I was only able to find one tentative verbal link: Shade's "eggspoon" makes appears in the opening scene of Zenda. But that could be coincidence.
Carolyn
*All of the multiple personality stories that VN refers to in Pale Fire were made into films (The Picture of Dorian Gray, The Three Faces of Eve, Jeckyll & Hyde and The Prisoner of Zenda).