On Apr 28, 2010, at 1:39 AM, Jerry Friedman wrote:
but why "not Shade"? It's certainly pure Nabokov, but it seems like Shade too, unless it's inconsistent with something in Shade's character that I'm missing.
First, thanks for the links, which I haven't entirely read yet, but at least now I know the where & why of swimming pools.
My point about Shade's Litany of Hate is not so much about what belongs to whom, in fact I would readily concede, even without references, that they were probably shared by both Shade & VN. My real point is that they are unexpected by the reader because they have been unprepared-for by the writer, Shade. If one wants to create the impression that a character is coming mentally undone one way is to have him say things that seem to come out of nowhere. For the writer to inject his own dislikes directly into the character's speech without preparation is an [easy] way of doing that. I think a lot of readers find the passage bewildering, but may not draw the conclusion that Shade is becoming unhitched. Thus my attempt at greater contextualizing:
The disjointed thoughts, which begin right from the start of the canto, the looseness of metaphor throughout, the obsession with the act of shaving, and the litany of hates, some of which seem odd, all point to the notion that Shade is truly loosing his grip on reality; and perhaps his sense of identity!
The unprepared inclusion of VN's pet peeves in Shade's litany of hates, along with the remote swimming pools, is intended to confuse, and secondarily amuse, the reader and make him ask if Shade isn't losing his mind.
But what about the much more coherent end of the canto?
Oh absolutely, more than coherent the ending is sublimely serene. The brain is drained. And the manic emotions as well. And the line Gently the day has passed in a sustained / Low hum of harmony is to be seen as hugely ironic.
Shade's bathtub tirade is neither gentle, harmonious, and least of all sustained as it has been shifting in and out of mania.
Immediately after the tirade he continues with the placid And while the safety blade...
The rapid shifting of emotions juxtaposed with the safety blade creates a situation that is inherently unsafe.
Shade began the canto boasting: Now I shall cry out as / None has cried out, and this promise has been roughly kept.
Yes, Shade gets it together at the end, in a way that is positively enchanting, but then that's the last we hear of him.
Then Kinbote takes over.
Again:
One's take on this question depends a lot upon how one takes, as in recites, the litany of hates passage.
Is it merely petulant, let's say, or truly mad, i.e., raging?
I think people have been quoting Nabokov's statements about the poem in regard to the question of how good he intended it to be,
which might affect the interpretation, for those of us who think there's such a thing as the author's intention.
Well, my response to that is that the author's intentions, especially in a poem as long as Pale Fire, ought to be apparent,
at least to anyone who is going to write critically about it. I thought he intended to write, and did write, a very good poem,
and we have, courtesy of Matt Roth, VN's words to that effect,
I had to evolve some kind of inspiration to produce a good poem, and I hope I did.
and so to the degree that there is agreement to the point all round, the point is rendered moot let's say.
But I've enjoyed reading you're thoughts, hope I've clarified how I understand things,
and maybe to have convinced you of a thing or two...
provocatively yours,
–GSL