Presentation

Dmitri Nabokov's Transparent Things

I think that ghosts and the memories of loved ones (amongst many other things) obviously have an affect on Dmitri Nabokov. Being raised by one of the greatest literary geniuses would probably affect anyone, but I couldn't help but hear Pale Fire and Transparent Things screaming in my little head as I read the intro to The Original of Laura by this man who has, probably, not been able to escape the ghosts of his mother and father since their separate demises. Here's the lines from the intro that made me come to this conclusion: "For my part, when the task passed to me, I did a great deal of thinking. [About publishing this book] I have said more than once that, to me, my parents, in a sense, had never died but lived on, looking over my shoulder in a kind of virtual limbo, available to offer a thought or councel to assist me with a vital decision, whether a crucial mot juste or a more mundane concern. I did not need to borrow my "ton bon" (thus deliberately garbeled) from the titles of fashionable morons but had it from the source. If it pleases an adventurous commentator to liken the case to mystical phenomina, so be it. I decided at this juncture that, in putative retrospect, Nabokov would not have wanted me to become his Person from Porlock or allow little Juanita Dark - for that was the name of an early Lolita, destined for cremation - to burn like a latter-day Jeanne d'Arc."

There's also a line in the intro that talks about how he fights the memory of the color of the beach that his father speaks of in "Speak, Memory", saying that he remembers the sand being a fine yellow, while Vladmir speaks of it in the novel as being white. I have a sinking notion that even Vladimir might have remembered it as yellow, but because he could created it as he thought it should, could, would be best for his readers. Perhaps...

In this one paragraph of his intro, Dmitri talks about some of the main works we read this semester, and I can only speculate, because these works haunt me and my every day life (they probably will until my last breath) that they must haunt him to unimaginable lengths, maybe even "running his life" to a certain Degre. ;)

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My Version of the Russian Doll that was Pale Fire

Rubber Band Ampersand

QUIZ 2

1.When does Gradus first come into the story? He comes into the story when John shade begins the first word of the poem.
2.Who does Kinbote say is the main characters? K, S, and G
3.What does the Zemblan royal family and the daughters of Goldsworth have in common? All in Alphabetical
4.According to Nabokov, Beauty + ______ = Art. Pity
5.What type of butterfly lands on Shade just before he is shot? Vanessa Atalanta
6.According to Kinbote, what gives John Shade's poem reality? My commentary
7.At least two Shakespearean plays that give rise to the title “pale fire”? Hamlet and Timon of Athens
8.In Zemblan, the name Kinbote means? King Killer
9.What is the password? Pity
10.How does Jana think Shade predicts his own death in the last refrain of the poem? The Gardener
The Blind date thing (Hazel, Lake, Dead! OH NO!)
11.When in the poem does Hazel commit suicide? The exact middle
12.Who gives Gradus a lift to the murder of Shade? Gerald Emerald
13.Ultima Thule means? The ultimate land
14.What was Kinbote's title for John Shade's poem? Solis Rex
15.Who translated Timon of Athens into Zemblan? Uncle Conmal
16.According to the index, What is Zembla? “A distant northern land”
17.What word game does Shade have a fondness for? Word golf....a six degrees of separation
18.Who is the toilest? T.S. Eliot
19. What is the misprint on which he had based life everlasting? Mountain for fountain or fountain for mountain
20.What does Kinbote think the last line of the poem is? Repetition of the first line of the poem
21.Kinbote says he can forgive everything except for one thing? Treason
22.Just this, not text but _____? Texture (he'll word it differently for sure)
23.The two books, one at beginning of alphabet, one at the end, that Kinbote read at the Judge's house? Forever Amber and The Prisoner of Zenda
24.In certain respects, Kinbote does resemble _______? Hazel
25.How? Powder = red wop , spider = redips
26.What does “Bretwit” mean? Chess intelligence
27.IPH = Institution for the Preparation of the Hereafter
28.How many days does it take for each canto? 3, 7, 7, 3
29.Kinbote's supposed wife full name and title? Paradisa the Duchess of Pain & Moan
30.& = What is it when dropped always makes this ampersand? Rubber Band

Can one of hollywood's biggest failures have something to offer?

Sonny Malone (Michael Beck) is a talented artist who dreams of fame beyond his job, which is the uncreative task of painting larger versions of album covers for record-store window advertisements. As the film opens, Sonny is broke and on the verge of giving up his dream. Having quit his day job to try to make a living as a freelance artist, but having failed to make any money at it, Sonny returns to his old job at AirFlo Records. After some humorous run-ins with his imperious boss and nemesis, Simpson, he resumes painting record covers.

At work, Sonny is told to paint an album cover for a group called The Nine Sisters. The cover features a beautiful woman passing in front of an art deco auditorium (the Pan-Pacific Auditorium). This same woman collided with him earlier that day, kissed him, then roller-skated away, and Malone becomes obsessed with finding her. He finds her at the same (but now abandoned) auditorium. She identifies herself as Kira (Olivia Newton-John), but she will tell him nothing else about herself. Unbeknownst to Sonny, Kira is one of nine mysterious and beautiful women who literally sprang to life from a local mural in town near the beach.

Sonny befriends a has-been big band orchestra leader-turned-construction mogul named Danny McGuire (Gene Kelly). Danny lost his muse in the 1940s; Sonny has not yet found his muse. Kira encourages the two men to form a partnership and open a nightclub at the old auditorium from the album cover. She falls in love with Sonny, and this presents a problem because she is actually an Olympian Muse (she is Terpsichore, the muse of dance). The other eight women from the beginning of the movie are her sisters and fellow goddesses, the Muses, and the mural is actually a portal of sorts and their point of entry to Earth.

The Muses visit Earth often to help inspire others to pursue their dreams and desires. But in Kira's case, she has broken the rules, as she was only supposed to inspire Sonny but has ended up falling in love with him as well. Her parents (presumably the Greek gods Zeus and Mnemosyne) recall her to the timeless realm of the gods. Sonny follows her through the mural and professes his love for her.

A short debate between Sonny and Zeus occurs with Mnemosyne interceding on Kira and Sonny's behalf. Kira then enters the discussion, saying the emotions she has toward Sonny are new to her--if only they could have one more night together, Sonny's dream of success for the nightclub Xanadu could come true. But Zeus ultimately sends Sonny back to Earth. After Kira expresses her feelings for Sonny in the song "Suspended In Time," Zeus and Mnemosyne decide to let Kira go to him for a "moment, or maybe forever" (mortal time confuses them), and the audience is left to wonder her fate.

In the finale of the movie, Kira and the Muses perform for a packed house at Xanadu's grand opening, and after Kira's final song they return to the realm of the gods in spectacular fashion. With their departure, Sonny is understandably depressed, but that quickly changes when Danny has one of the waitresses bring Sonny a drink. The waitress is an exact look-alike of Kira. Sonny approaches this enigmatic doppelgänger and says he would just like to talk to her. The film ends with the two of them talking, in silhouette, as the credits begin to roll.


I chanced upon this on HBO last night.... thought to myself there might be something here. Really not a good movie, but some funny and ridiculous connections to doppelgangers, muses, gods, and art..... interesting if not flawed.

I am pleased to introduce.... Mr. John Shade, beloved husband, father, poet.

With a combination of the following:

Cheeks & chin from these guys:



Eyebrows & Forehead from this guy:



A little nose from this gal:



A little hair from this gal:



A little influence into the nose, mouth, hair, and eyes from this guy:

And some sad eyes, we (my fiance and I) were able to make a composite sketch of what John Shade may have looked like. I am pleased to introduce to you, ladies and gentleman, Mr. John Shade, beloved husband, father, poet. (Feel free to also click on each picture to get a big version, full of plenty of detail...especially on the two pictures below.)

We also decided to take this shape we had developed here and make it into a caricature (just for a little fun).... realizing that there are a lot of details in the caricature that were passed up in the composite. Notice the devil horned butterfly putting a "be quiet" finger to his mouth in the top corner, or the tired, sad eyes.... maybe you'll notice his vicuna collar, the red bandana out his right rear pocket, grass stains on his khaki pants, or his little loafers. Check it out:

I also scanned it in Black and White, which gives a whole other feeling to the caricature.

Let me know what you think! :)

Is Pale Fire a lesser work?

Can someone answer me this question? Why do the artists and writers who judge such things think that Lolita is such a better book than Pale Fire? Is it because, essentially, the story of love, road trips, and tragedy within Lolita has a much higher value of some sort than the story of ghosts, love, and "reality" within Pale Fire?

I can't figure it out.... I like Pale Fire more....