''Vladimir Nabokov's Comic Quest for Reality' - Nottingham eTheses
''Vladimir Nabokov's Comic Quest for Reality' - Nottingham eTheses ''Vladimir Nabokov's Comic Quest for Reality' - Nottingham eTheses
- 52 - consciousness returns to him. The idea he tries all along to impress on the reader is that he is not a live person any more: it is only his "thought", as he puts it, that "lives on by momentum" (29), and all he. experiences is no more than a "postexistent chimera" (31). If this is so, human thought must indeed be "a mighty thing" (29), for even after his supposed death it recreates to perfection all the things he knew in life, including a hollow tooth. It also furnishes his memory with the exact details of his (attempted) suicide. Looking back on it, he even seems to be aware of a streak of irony and absurd- ity in a situation that, after all, marked a serious crisis in his life: He has had specific and yet rather vague ideas of "how people went about shooting them- selves" (26). In his imagination this is a ceremony that should follow a certain established pattern. There are the "traditional letters" (26) to those whom one knows and loves, the tidying up of things, the clean linen one is supposed to put on, one's money to dispose of... But "I knew few people and loved no one" (26); so what is the use of writing letters? All he possesses in the way of money are twenty marks. Is this worth the trouble of putting it in an envelope and leaving it to someone? The tradition of suicide is rather too solemn and pompous for the "wretched, 4. shivering, vulgar little man" (26) he sees in the mirror. When his time has come, he is not up to executing all the moves that tradition requires. Instead, he makes a very unconventional and unceremonious exit (after
- 53 - tearing the banknote into little pieces and destroying his wrist-watch). The incidents after his suicide also smack of irony, and again he seems to be aware of it and slightly hurt. The dramatic circumstances which accompanied his last moment, that "delightful vibrating sound behind... me" after the shot, "the warble of water, a throaty gush- ing noise" (28), are explained away all too prosaical- ly: it was only the pitcher that his bullet hit and smashed. If he felt "unbelievably free" (27) during his last moments and convinced that nothing mattered any more, he finds that this was another mistake on his part. Everything matters, just as before. The world closes in on him again. Even as a ghost he has to be practical. His watch has to be repaired, he needs money, he needs a job. He is not free at all, but finds himself (or, in his opinion, his thought) engaged as always in "a sphere where everything is interconnected" (31), and in a world which, he feels, might have strongly objected had he given in to his lawless impulses (27) inspired by that exalted feeling of freedom. The worst ironic slight, of course, is that nobody but himself believes in his death. The only sympathetic comment comes from Weinstock: "You look awful", which he attributes to the "grippe" (32), and this must be rather disconcerting for someone who is convinced that 1. he is stone-dead and no more than a ghost. It is, to say the least, rather unusual to be talked to by a narrator of whom one is pretty sure that he is as alive as can be, but who seems to believe
- Page 7 and 8: -2- granting that the Bolshevist an
- Page 9 and 10: -4- consent, was motivated by the a
- Page 11 and 12: -6- on the aspects of life that int
- Page 13 and 14: -8- importance but its art, only it
- Page 15 and 16: - 10 - of. the novels, consist in t
- Page 17 and 18: - 12 - life with its hazards and in
- Page 19 and 20: - 14 - lives of individual persons,
- Page 21 and 22: - 16 - is convinced to really know
- Page 23 and 24: - 18 - hopeless, but Nabokov does n
- Page 25 and 26: - 20 - for the artist, is expressed
- Page 27 and 28: - 22 - a new, wholly artistic reali
- Page 29 and 30: - 24 - way, and this knowledge and
- Page 31 and 32: - 26 - internal evidence of Invitat
- Page 33 and 34: - 28 - Admittedly not all of Naboko
- Page 35 and 36: - 30 - "tr. ue reality" in that it
- Page 37 and 38: - 32 - the manner in which the subj
- Page 39 and 40: - 34 - The case is quite similar in
- Page 41 and 42: - 36 - lines of play 11120 will in
- Page 43 and 44: - 38 - him knowledge surpassing tha
- Page 45 and 46: - 40 - the present. This act of rec
- Page 47 and 48: - 42 - design in the life of Martin
- Page 49 and 50: - 44 - Martin's mother of her son's
- Page 51 and 52: - 46 - is blind where his wife and
- Page 53 and 54: - 48 - serious and profound experie
- Page 55 and 56: I. The Eye Pnin Lolita; Laughter*in
- Page 57: - 51 - novel. They illustrate how p
- Page 61 and 62: - 55 - have before: after the suici
- Page 63 and 64: - 57 - imagination of Gretchen best
- Page 65 and 66: - 59 - deed been through an experie
- Page 67 and 68: - 61 - there must be some "model" a
- Page 69 and 70: - 63 - P NI N In their appreciation
- Page 71 and 72: - 65 - For the sake of convenience
- Page 73 and 74: - 67 - Pnin's appearance is comic,
- Page 75 and 76: - 69 - all-the time. He suffers an
- Page 77 and 78: - 71 - existence" (13). In his pres
- Page 79 and 80: - 73 - is going to give, on his per
- Page 81 and 82: - 75 - exist in such big sea" (60).
- Page 83 and 84: - 77 - directly from Pnin's peculia
- Page 85 and 86: - 79 - them at least 10ok like his
- Page 87 and 88: - 81 - indeed only the very thinnes
- Page 89 and 90: - 83 - but the group of academics w
- Page 91 and 92: - 85 - "schools and trends", and is
- Page 93 and 94: - 87 - which induces the reader to
- Page 95 and 96: - 89 - and-smiles at, there emerges
- Page 97 and 98: - 91 - More depth and reality are a
- Page 99 and 100: - 93 - cp. 180). The narrator also
- Page 101 and 102: 95 - being accurate in every point,
- Page 103 and 104: - 97 - standing of a "truly human b
- Page 105 and 106: - 99 - eternal beauty, and his conv
- Page 107 and 108: - 101 - One luckless early critic w
-<br />
52<br />
-<br />
consciousness returns to him. The idea he tries all<br />
along to impress on the reader is that he is not a<br />
live person any more: it is only his "thought", as he<br />
puts it, that "lives on by momentum" (29), and all he.<br />
experiences is no more than a "postexistent chimera" (31).<br />
If this is so, human thought must indeed be "a mighty<br />
thing" (29), <strong>for</strong> even after his supposed death it<br />
recreates to perfection all the things he knew in life,<br />
including a hollow tooth.<br />
It also furnishes his memory with the exact details<br />
of his (attempted) suicide. Looking back on it, he<br />
even seems to be aware of a streak of irony and absurd-<br />
ity in a situation that, after all, marked a serious<br />
crisis in his life: He has had specific and yet rather<br />
vague ideas of "how people went about shooting them-<br />
selves" (26). In his imagination this is a ceremony<br />
that should follow a certain established pattern.<br />
There are the "traditional letters" (26) to those whom<br />
one knows and loves, the tidying up of things, the<br />
clean linen one is supposed to put on, one's money<br />
to dispose of... But "I knew few people and loved<br />
no one" (26); so what is the use of writing letters?<br />
All he possesses in the way of money are twenty marks.<br />
Is this worth the trouble of putting it in an envelope<br />
and leaving it to someone? The tradition of suicide<br />
is rather too solemn and pompous <strong>for</strong> the "wretched,<br />
4.<br />
shivering, vulgar little man" (26) he sees in the<br />
mirror. When his time has come, he is not up to executing<br />
all the moves that tradition requires. Instead, he makes<br />
a very unconventional and unceremonious exit (after
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