''Vladimir Nabokov's Comic Quest for Reality' - Nottingham eTheses

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The thought throws more light on, for example,
The Defence because it helps one understand Luzhin's
failure to take any influence on his future, although
his artistic mind has penetrated the mystery of the
pattern that has shaped his past. And it also throws
light on Pale Fire, for it explains why Shade has to
put on a "dress rehearsal of death". Only by assuming
for a moment that. his life has come to an end can
he look back on it as an outsider would after his
death, and only then can he perceive the finished
design, evaluate past events, or learn something
about
himself.
So far the presence of Mr. R. has not been accounted
for'; nor the fact that so much space and comment is
devoted to his person and his works. It emerges from
the comments that, at least as an artist, he is very
similar to Nabokov, so much so that critics tend to
see in him an ironic impersonation of the author:
"R is the latest of the unreliable, self-mocking fictional
silhouettes of himself Nabokov has written",
says Martha Duffy14, and R. Alter supports this view15.
Nabokov continues his mockery outside the novel, in
16.
the interview which has already been quoted He
says about critics who have come to this conclusion
that "They were led to that notion by mere flippancy
of thought because, I suppose, both writers are naturalized
U. S. citizens and both happen, or happened,
to live in Switzerland. "17 Two factors are supposed
to prove his point, namely: "When Transparent Things