Casimir > Recent Status Updates

76

Nearing the end of Canto Three. The residual doubt? Smashed. Note the coincidence of the C.X.’s U.S. arrival and the switch in deixis.

What the hell, Kinbote?

The poem's not even halfway annotated (just finished note to line 476), and I feel like Kinbote's secret's been given away. The unreliable narrator goes on far too much about his royal secrets, always with the point of view of the King, blending it with his own and replacing Shade's voice with his own discourse. Kinbote? More like botkin. smh.

So far, a welcome change from Pale Fire by Nabokov which I’ve been reading interstitially. A comfortable yet sufficiently cryptic set of poems the progression of which I’m excited to witness. The Lost Father is an instant favorite.

I’ve never been good at critically examining narrators; this one’s suspicious though. The back and forth between poem and notes is a bit uncomfortable at first but it’s an enjoyable experience. It’s made me notice how little I notice when I’m reading verse, although much of what the narrator says couldn’t be less pertinent.