"Wood is doing here exactly what Wilson said the genuine critic should do: he is taking a writerly interest in how things work. But that is not all he is doing; he is also in the middle of making a rather ambitious argument about the development of the modern novel since Flaubert."
Perhaps too ambitious? I have nothing against Mr Wood, but surely Pnin thinks in Russian? especially in moments of panic. I think "leggy thing" is pure perfect Nabokovian English, but perhaps Alexey can translate "leggy thing" for us back into a possible Pninian Russian expression?
Carolyn Kunin
p.s. Now that I think about it, I find that "leggy thing" conjures up perfectly the image of inanimate object perversely and purposely evading Pnin's grasp with a little leap of willful disdain.