NPPF: preliminary - epigraph

[Bandwraith at aol.com]

In a message dated 7/13/03 3:39:50 PM, Erik.Burns at dowjones.com writes:

<< As I tried to argue yesterday, I think there are certainly affinities

between Kinbote & Oedipa -- they are at different phases of madness (he's

gone, she's nearing the cusp). This does not an influence make, surely not a

direct one, but it raises the probability of familiarity, sure - and

interest. >>

Interesting, but I would submit that Oedipa is completely sane.
She has insight into all the possibilities, including that she may
be hallucinating. Her social interactions are appropriate and she
has a good sense of the feelings of people around her. Given the
sequence of her experiences, her paranoia is logical, even if it
is a figment of her imagination (her imaginary imagination).

On the other hand, I would find it difficult to make an argument
for Kinbote being sane. Unlike Oedipa, he does not even enter-
tain that his perceptions are anything but the truth. It is only
through the agency of Nabokov that we are able to catch him
at his game.

respectfully