In response to Ron Rosenbaum's question, "Does anyone else believe
Hazel Shade's ghost somehow dictated 'Pale Fire'?":
Of course not, and Brian Boyd never made such a
silly claim. If you'll reread his "Nabokov's 'Pale Fire'," you'll see that
he makes an ingenious case, well supported by textual evidence, that Hazel
Shade's shade influences Kinbote's commentary in a number of complex and
significant areas. Perhaps the best way to put it is to employ Boyd's
phrase (on p. 168) -- Hazel "helps Kinbote dream" his dream of
Zembla.
There is never any suggestion that Hazel has
dictated anything. Boyd's argument, page after page, is always for
influence and pattern-making, never ghostwriting. Do I believe in this
interpretation? I certainly do. Anyone who doubts it needs to
counter Boyd's textual points, case by case; he is not offering a hunch,
but rather a sustained argument. I will add that there remain, in my
opinion, important interpretative questions about "Pale Fire" that Boyd's
book has not settled, but the presence of Hazel as a ghostly influence is not
one of them. The case is simply too strong, and entirely in keeping with
VN's literary and metaphysical preoccupations.
Best,
J. Morris