''Vladimir Nabokov's Comic Quest for Reality' - Nottingham eTheses

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that he expects to find in one particular place "were
nowhere to be seen" (90). Separate scenes and places
have combined and merged in his mind and formed the
images of surroundings that have no counterparts in
reality, and in the same way
Hugh's memory had bunched into one path
the several wood trails and logging roads
that led to the first difficult stage of
the ascent... No wonder he soon lost his way
(89).
Sadly he cannot even find the spot in the woods
where for the first and only time Armande showed some
signs of genuine emotion.
Hugh's experience suggests the conclusion that his
memory is not a very efficient instrument in the kind
of quest he is undertaking. Contrary to all his hopes
and expectations it proves to be useless in his at-
tempt to find access to the past. Where he hopes to
catch one glimpse of it, to evoke and capture one of
its. cherished images, his memory plays tricks on him
by getting his old impressions mixed up; it creates
obstacles and blocks his view.
It is seen to fail in another, much more crucial
respect. "A thin veneer of immediate reality is spread
over natural and artificial matter", the author says
(2). So thin is this veneer (it is like a "tension
film" [2]) that it is easy to break it. And behind
(or under) this veneer (the "now" of things) their
past can be perceived (and much more, as will be seen).
For the artist, in fact, it may not be necessary to
break the film deliberately. He needs only concentrate
on an object to sink into its past and history without