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

- 402 -
in The Real Life of Sebastian Knight, and Mr. R. in
Transparent Things - these have all the qualities of
mystical
insights.
"Average reality " in Ada has already been de-
scribed. It is life as led by Aqua and Marina, Lucette,
Demon and Dan; a life which is governed by time in
which nothing lasts, and which is made up of "ghost
things" and "fogs"; it is history determined by wars
and crimes; a world of sufferings that eventually
lead to death. This, then, is the reality which Van
tries to avoid facing, which he and Ada try to over-
come through their scientific and artistic preoccupä-
tions, and from which they escape into their private
paradise.
It is there, too, during moments of love, that they
experience "true reality". As Van expresses it:
What, then, was it that raised the animal
act to a level higher than even that of
the most exact arts or the wildest flights
of pure science? It would not be sufficient
to say that in his love-making with Ada he
discovered the pang, the ogon', the agony
of supreme 'reality'. Reality, better say,
lost the quotes it wore like claws - in a
world where independent and original minds
must cling to things or pull things apart
in order to ward off madness or death (which
is the master madness). For one spasm or two,
he was safe. The new naked reality needed
no tentacle or anchor; it lasted a moment,
but could be repeated as often as he and she
were physically able to make love (219-220).
This needs an explanation, and Van's own treatise on
The Texture of Time provides one. Separating Space
from Time and dismissing it as having no significance
in relation to Time, he explains his conception of
"true Time" and then deals with the Future, the Past