This is a free preview of a paid episode. To hear more, visit grandhotelabyss.substack.com
Welcome back to The Invisible College, my series of literature courses for paid subscribers. The introduction to and schedule for the 2025 season is here. The 2024 archive is here. This episode, of which the first 10 minutes are free, is the 10th in a 15-week sequence on the modern American novel. It concerns Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov. After discussing Nabokov’s eventful life and controversial opinions, we consider the novel’s experimental structure and send-up of scholarship, the implied metaphysics of the text, its treatment of key themes like beauty and pity, the ambiguous levels of reality the novel depicts, the nostalgia for Russia that may be at its basis, its potential ethic of sympathy, and more. Please like, share, comment, and subscribe! The slideshow corresponding to the episode can be downloaded behind the paywall:
