I agree with you, and would add Pnin to the worthwhile works of his American period; it’s also perhaps uniquely sweet and tender.
Beginning with the game-changer Lolita, and very evident in The Real Life of Sebastian Knight and increasingly so in Ada and Transparent Things is a chthonic, even explicitly satanic, spirituality. I see no evidence of that in your work! You’re a classic Italian Catholic, world weary and uneasy but fundamentally at home even if you identify as a wayward son.
Also, Nabokov’s worldview and aesthetic was based on deception and the murderous threat concealed in the attractive and apparently nutritious lure. His collection of interviews “Strong Opinions” are a tissue of lies, interweaving falsehoods of both commission and omission.
Again, I see your work as expressing a delicate and persistent pursuit of the truth, not necessarily in a universal sense but as it can be located and authentically expressed within the context of your sensibility in response to your life experience.
Nabokov had no such commitment. He delighted in deeply transgressive epistemological acrobatics, most famously writing a novel about child abuse from the perspective of the abuser, and presenting HH as so charming, witty and lacrymously pseudo-penitent that readers are tempted to align with his twisted and exploitative perspective and sympathize with his—not Lolita’s!!!—plight.
Again, there is a vast gulf between your work and Nabokov’s.
This is beautiful, Chris. And very touching. Thank you for sharing these intimate memories. "I had been awoken into an emptier world, to a grave loss and the final termination of any possibility of reconciliation and true appreciation between my father and me—but I had just felt his presence, and we’d connected more authentically than we had ever done since I became a man." -- I was particularly moved by this paragraph. Your experience is indeed a testament to the profound human connection that transcends physical boundaries. A reminder that love and understanding often reach their purest form in the least obvious, non-terrain configurations. That deepest bonds endure beyond the constraints of time and distance, and matter.
Thanks for sharing such an intimate part of your life. I resonated with the part about your Dad, and how his early doubt and discouragement set such a strong tone and direction for your life. But it’s clear that you always had a destiny to write, no matter what gets in your way
Thanks, Chris. That was wonderful. One of the things that surprised me about the death of my parents (and the death of my wife's parents) was how very quickly everything that was a challenge or negative in the relationships just melted away - and the memories focus on all that was loving and inspirational and profoundly accepting. The memories bring such comfort and also drive me to give that same love and acceptance out into the world.
I agree with you, and would add Pnin to the worthwhile works of his American period; it’s also perhaps uniquely sweet and tender.
Beginning with the game-changer Lolita, and very evident in The Real Life of Sebastian Knight and increasingly so in Ada and Transparent Things is a chthonic, even explicitly satanic, spirituality. I see no evidence of that in your work! You’re a classic Italian Catholic, world weary and uneasy but fundamentally at home even if you identify as a wayward son.
Also, Nabokov’s worldview and aesthetic was based on deception and the murderous threat concealed in the attractive and apparently nutritious lure. His collection of interviews “Strong Opinions” are a tissue of lies, interweaving falsehoods of both commission and omission.
Again, I see your work as expressing a delicate and persistent pursuit of the truth, not necessarily in a universal sense but as it can be located and authentically expressed within the context of your sensibility in response to your life experience.
Nabokov had no such commitment. He delighted in deeply transgressive epistemological acrobatics, most famously writing a novel about child abuse from the perspective of the abuser, and presenting HH as so charming, witty and lacrymously pseudo-penitent that readers are tempted to align with his twisted and exploitative perspective and sympathize with his—not Lolita’s!!!—plight.
Again, there is a vast gulf between your work and Nabokov’s.
This is beautiful, Chris. And very touching. Thank you for sharing these intimate memories. "I had been awoken into an emptier world, to a grave loss and the final termination of any possibility of reconciliation and true appreciation between my father and me—but I had just felt his presence, and we’d connected more authentically than we had ever done since I became a man." -- I was particularly moved by this paragraph. Your experience is indeed a testament to the profound human connection that transcends physical boundaries. A reminder that love and understanding often reach their purest form in the least obvious, non-terrain configurations. That deepest bonds endure beyond the constraints of time and distance, and matter.
Thanks for sharing such an intimate part of your life. I resonated with the part about your Dad, and how his early doubt and discouragement set such a strong tone and direction for your life. But it’s clear that you always had a destiny to write, no matter what gets in your way
Thanks, Chris. That was wonderful. One of the things that surprised me about the death of my parents (and the death of my wife's parents) was how very quickly everything that was a challenge or negative in the relationships just melted away - and the memories focus on all that was loving and inspirational and profoundly accepting. The memories bring such comfort and also drive me to give that same love and acceptance out into the world.
I enjoyed reading this, Chris. It's incredible introspection and beautifully expressed. Thank you for sharing your feelings.