Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0021090, Fri, 24 Dec 2010 11:05:42 -0600

Subject
KQKn & Inception & Christie
Date
Body
In a curious bit of "synchronicity", following the Inception, KQKn
dream connection, I stumbled on this in Agatha Christie's Passenger to
Frankfurt (not one of her best):
"Pasteboard,"..."Like Alice in Wonderland. The cards, the pasteboard
cards all rising up in the air. Flying about. Kings and queens and
knaves..."..."You mean--what do you mean exactly?"..."I mean it isn't
real. It's make-believe. The whole damn thing is make-
believe."..."All dressed up playing parts, putting on a show." (p111
in my pb)

I love little moments like this where totally unconnected things
connect suddenly within the span of a week. Almost makes me think
there is a pattern behind the world just like VN says.

Aside from this I just finished reading Stephanie Merkel's article in
N Studies #1 concerning KQKn & Commedia Dell' Arte (excellent) and
wondered if anyone has looked at possible connections between Alice In
Wonderland and KQKn or traced allusions to it in other VN works. I
think Appel does in Annotated L, but the fairy tale themes and dream
imagery are so pervasive this seems a fruitful avenue in light of VN's
translation of Alice.

>
> KQKn, 1st paragraph of
> Chapter 2?
>
> "...Another awakening, but perhaps not yet the final one. ...this is a
> false awakening, being merely the next layer of your dream, as if you
> were rising up...Is this the final reality, or just a new deceptive
> dream?"
>


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