Dear List,
Sometimes it is hard to put two and two together
when reading Nabokov. During one of his descriptions of a character
- and I now forget who it was since it could not have been Kinbote with
his beard! - VN wrote about someone carrying a black suitcase and an
umbrella.
I was instantly moved to find a painting by Magritte where, like drops
of rain, there were several such bussinessmen aligned. The title of
the painting surprised me ( where did I come across the name Golconda?)
until, at last, I forgot all about it.But the if
the image was gone, the name remained.
And, lo, I found it in a description that Kinbote
offered of himself: " a soft,clumsy giant...imagine an exiled prince
who is unavare of the Golconda in his cuff links..."( Foreword, page
17, Everyman's Library)
So I thought that it would be fun to cuff link and
bobolink the name and the image. I attach here "Golconda", by René
Magritte.
Jansy
