Https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pale_Fire#Interpretations fascinating takes.

The Botkin theory is very plausible, and these critical essays from Boyd on the Nabokov mailing list is also a fun read (i’m on 3 of 9, made possible by reader mode in my browser, the archive newlines are a little weird).

(you know you are reading some real lore when you see the old “name-l” listserve decorator)

https://bookwyrm.social/user/gravely/comment/7641408

I picked up the inferno (this hollander one https://archive.org/details/dante-dantes-the-divine-comedy-the-inferno-2012-dante-alighieri-robert-hollander-jean-hollander ) off my now two-shelf long to-read, half-read, and probably dnfing pile because I’m about to get to it in the Berkeley philosophy lectures I I’m listening to on walks anymore (Dreyfus mentioned previously, https://archive.org/details/ucberkeley_webcast_itunesu_461120619) and it’s in the form canto, commentary on canto, canto 2, commentary on canto 2, and so on

ffs