sourcedoc: FORENOTE TO KINBOTE'S COMMENTARY, by Ted Nelson

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FORENOTE TO KINBOTE'S COMMENTARY, by Ted Nelson

The first side of Nabokov's novel is John Shade's haunting poem. The poem

as a whole (not included here) appears to me to be about the suicide of the

poet's daughter, in a context of nature, family, suburban life, and 1960s

America.

Below, however, we have another interpretation-- the second side of

Nabokov's novel.

What follows are the comments of Charles Kinbote, a lunatic literary

critic. Kinbote believes himself to be the deposed king, Charles Xavier,

of a far-off land, called Zembla. He believes that even since coming to

the USA in 1958, he has barely escaped from an assassin named Gradus.

While partially expounding on John Shade's poem, Kinbote continually uses

the poem as an excuse to tell his own dubious story, which he thinks is

actually hidden in the poem.

(Because this is a demo about connections, Kinbote's notes have been

severely truncated to show these connections and honor copyright. I

recommend the full book.)

-- TN

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