Blodgett Waxwing and Pale Fire

[John Bailey]

The Nabokov class rumour apparently came from Nabokov's wife, but there's
been a marked lack of evidence to back it up (from what I remember).
Blodgett Waxwing's specialty is forging documents, however, and the Caserne
Martiere he escaped from was a prison for (among other things) theft and
black market stuff, so perhaps it's a nod to the Pale Fire
narrator/editor's gift for literary grifting.

On Thu, Jan 26, 2017 at 5:07 PM, Jade Becker <jbecker13 at georgefox.edu>
wrote:

> Noticed on the first line of Nabokov's Pale Fire (the poem part), we've
> got a mention of "the shadow of the waxwing slain."
>
> Do you think this adds any meaning to our friend Blodgett Waxwing's
> name/role in Gravity's Rainbow? Or is it just for fun? I remember hearing
> rumors about Pynchon taking a class or two by Nabokov. I haven't finished
> Pale Fire yet, so perhaps the significance will become apparent.
>
> Or perhaps not. Unless there was something I missed about Mucho, Oedipa's
> name seemed to have little to do with the Complex.
>
> Jade-
> Pynchon-l / http://www.waste.org/mail/?listpynchon-l
>
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