''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
- 54 - quite firmly in his own death and pretends that it is only his disembodied spirit that goes about the ordinary affairs of life, that speaks to and talks about people. Yet such is the underlying comic for- mula of this "twinkling tale. "2 It is also the necessary precondition for the quest the narrator sets out to undertake. From the moment at which he moves into the house at 5 Peacock Street and gets to know a group of emigre Russians, he does not talk much about himself any more. At least, he pretends that he is only present as the narrating "I" that watches what is going on, that observes people and comments on them. He does talk a lot about a cer- tain Smurov, a young man who is a newcomer to the group. He watches him closely and attentively; he notes how other people react to him, and he sets him- self the aim of "[digging] up the true Smurov" (59), "the type, the model, the original" (58). It does not'take one long to realize that he him- self is Smurov. He has always watched himself; he has never been able to stop doing so, even when he desperately wanted to, and behind this obsession, it seems, has been a constant preoccupation with the riddle of his own personality and, in fact, his whole existence: ... I was always exposed, always wide-eyed; even in sleep I did not cease to watch over myself, understanding nothing of my existence, growing crazy at the thought being of not able to stop being aware of myself-... (16-17) If his suicide has not freed him of his obsession, it has yet given him a kind of freedom he did not
- 55 - have before: after the suicidal act he is no longer wrapped up in his own self, watching his every thought and action from inside, self-consciously and "with sympathy" (35), that is, emotionally, but he looks upon himself as upon another person, detachedly, soberly, as an "onlooker", and "with curiosity instead of sympathy" (35). With the suicide, then, he has not killed himself physically, but, as his own words imply, he has killed (or: for the time being, has shed) the emotional part of himself, that part which always made him suffer. Looking at Smurov, he is, as it were, looking at himself from the outside, interested, curious, striving to find out about himself and his existence, and all the while talking about himself in the third person. His quest foreshadows to a certain degree Sebastian's and V's search for the "real" Sebastian Knight, for in addition to watching himself, the narrator tries to gain knowledge about himself by observing and spying on, other persons' reactions to him. He is soon puzzled because his image takes on new aspects all the time. The pictures that the others form of Smurov differ widely from one another, they even exclude one another. Marianna sees in him "a brutal and brilliant officer of the White Army" (59), Weinstock suspects him of being a dangerous spy (57- 58). For Gretchen and the janitor's wife he is "a foreign poet", "a spiritual gentleman" (78); he is "an adventurer", "a Don Juan, a Casanova" (76) for Weinstock, but "a rascal", "a sexual lefty" (85) for
- 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 and 58: - 51 - novel. They illustrate how p
- Page 59: - 53 - tearing the banknote into li
- 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
- Page 109 and 110: - 103 - says "well-read" Humbert Hu
- 54 -<br />
quite firmly in his own death and pretends that it<br />
is only his disembodied spirit that goes about the<br />
ordinary affairs of life, that speaks to and talks<br />
about people. Yet such is the underlying comic <strong>for</strong>-<br />
mula of this "twinkling tale. "2<br />
It is also the necessary precondition <strong>for</strong> the quest<br />
the narrator sets out to undertake. From the moment<br />
at which he moves into the house at 5 Peacock Street<br />
and gets to know a group of emigre Russians, he does<br />
not talk much about himself any more. At least, he<br />
pretends that he is only present as the narrating "I"<br />
that watches what is going on, that observes people<br />
and comments on them. He does talk a lot about a cer-<br />
tain Smurov, a young man who is a newcomer to the<br />
group. He watches him closely and attentively; he<br />
notes how other people react to him, and he sets him-<br />
self the aim of "[digging] up the true Smurov" (59),<br />
"the type, the model, the original" (58).<br />
It does not'take one long to realize that he him-<br />
self is Smurov. He has always watched himself; he<br />
has never been able to stop doing so, even when he<br />
desperately wanted to, and behind this obsession, it<br />
seems, has been a constant preoccupation with the<br />
riddle of his own personality and, in fact, his whole<br />
existence:<br />
...<br />
I was always exposed, always wide-eyed;<br />
even in sleep I did not cease to watch over<br />
myself, understanding nothing of my existence,<br />
growing crazy at the thought<br />
being<br />
of not<br />
able to stop being aware of myself-... (16-17)<br />
If his suicide has not freed him of his obsession,<br />
it has yet given him a kind of freedom he did not
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