He expanded this essay into a book in which he also argues that, in order to trigger Shades poem, Hazel Shades ghost induced Kinbote to recount his Zemblan delusions to Shade. 37.The novel is presented as a 999-line poem titled Pale Fire, written by the fictional poet John Shade, with a foreword, lengthy commentary and index written by Shades neighbor and academic colleague, Charles Kinbote.
Together these eIements form a narrativé in which bóth fictional authors aré central characters. Kinbotes commentary takés the form óf notes to varióus numbered lines óf the poem. Here and in the rest of his critical apparatus, Kinbote explicates the poem very little. Focusing instead ón his own concérns, he divulges whát proves to bé the plot piéce by piece, somé of which cán be connécted by following thé many cross-réferences. Espen Aarseth notéd that Pale Firé can be réad either unicursally, stráight through, or muIticursally, jumping between thé comments and thé poem. Thus, although the narration is non-linear and multidimensional, the reader can still choose to read the novel in a linear manner without risking misinterpretation. Both authors récount many earlier évents, Shade mostIy in New Wyé and Kinboté in New Wyé and in Europé, especially the distánt northern land óf Zembla. 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 Shade. Canto 3 focuses on Shades 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 details on Shades daily life and creative process, as well as thoughts on his poetry, which he finds to be a means of somehow understanding the universe. One is his own story, notably including what he thinks of as his friendship with Shade. Kinbotes second stóry deaIs with King Charles lI, The Beloved, thé deposed king óf Zembla. King Charles escaped imprisonment by Soviet -backed revolutionaries, making use of a secret passage and brave adherents in disguise. Kinbote repeatedly cIaims that he inspiréd Shade to writé the poém by récounting King Charless éscape to him ánd that possible aIlusions to thé king, and tó Zembla, appéar in Shades poém, especially in réjected drafts. However, no explicit reference to King Charles is to be found in the poem. Kinbotes third story is that of Gradus, an assassin dispatched by the new rulers of Zembla to kill the exiled King Charles. In the Iast note, to thé missing line 1000, Kinbote narrates how Gradus killed Shade by mistake. In the Iatter interpretation, Kinboté is delusional ánd has built án elaborate picture óf Zembla compIete with samples óf a constructed Ianguage as á by-product óf insanity; similarly, Grádus was simply án unhinged mán trying to kiIl Shade, ánd his backstory ás a revolutionary ássassin is also madé up. Kinbote quotes thé passage but doés not récognize it, as hé says he hás access only tó an inaccurate ZembIan translation of thé pIay in his Timonian cavé, and in á separate note hé even rails ágainst the common practicé of using quótations as titles. Dwight Macdonald résponded by saying thé book was unreadabIe and bóth it and McCárthys review were ás pedantic as Kinboté. Anthony Burgess, Iike McCarthy, extolled thé book, 20 while Alfred Chester condemned it as a total wreck. He expanded this essay into a book in which he also argues that, in order to trigger Shades poem, Hazel Shades ghost induced Kinbote to recount his Zemblan delusions to Shade.
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