Vladimir Nabokov - Pale Fire
Год выпуска: 1962/2008
Автор: Владимир Набоков
Жанр: Классика
Язык: английский
Издательство: Berkley Books
ISBN: 0-679-72342-0
Формат: PDF
Качество: eBook (изначально компьютерное)
Количество страниц: 222
Описание: Pale Fire (1962) is a novel by Vladimir Nabokov. The novel is presented as a poem titled "Pale Fire" by John Shade, a fictional author, with an introduction and commentary by a fictional friend of his. Together these elements form a narrative in which both authors are central characters.
The novel's unusual structure has attracted much attention, and it is often cited as an important example of metafiction. Pale Fire has spawned a wide variety of interpretations and a large body of written criticism. The Nabokov authority Brian Boyd has called it "Nabokov's most perfect novel".
Starting with the table of contents, Pale Fire is presented as the publication of a 999-line poem in four cantos ("Pale Fire") by a famous American poet, John Shade. The poem digressively describes many aspects of Shade's life. Canto 1 includes his early encounters with death and glimpses of what he takes to be the supernatural. Canto 2 is about his family and the apparent suicide of his daughter, Hazel. Canto 3 focuses on Shade's search for knowledge about an afterlife, culminating in a "faint hope" in higher powers "playing a game of worlds" as indicated by apparent coincidences. Canto 4 offers many personal details on Shade's daily life and creative process, as well as some thoughts on his poetry, which he finds to be a means of somehow understanding the universe.
The poem appears with a Foreword, extensive Commentary, and Index by Shade's self-appointed editor, Charles Kinbote, Shade's neighbor in the small college town of New Wye. According to Kinbote, Shade has been murdered. Kinbote has acquired the manuscript, including some variants, and has taken it upon himself to oversee the poem's publication, telling readers that it lacks only one line.
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Бледное пламя («Pale Fire») — роман В. В. Набокова, написанный на английском языке в США и впервые опубликованный в 1962 году. Ранний пример нелинейного романа (т. н. эргодическая литература).
Роман, задуманный Набоковым еще до переезда в США (отрывки «Ultima Thule» и «Solus Rex» были написаны на русском языке в 1939 г.), строится как 999-строчная поэма с изобилующим литературными аллюзиями комментарием. Данная структура была подсказана Набокову работой над четырехтомным комментарием к переводу «Евгения Онегина» (возможный прототип — «Дунсиада» Александра Поупа).
Согласно книге, комментрируемая поэма принадлежит известному американскому поэту, а комментарий самовольно добавлен его коллегой по университету. Коллега, явно сумасшедший, видит в поэме намёки на собственнную судьбу — беглого короля Земблы. В этой несуществующей стране произошла революция, и король бежал в Америку.
