Vladimir Nabokov Quote
Children of her type contrive the purest philosophies. Ada had worked out her own little system. Hardly a week had elapsed since Van’s arrival when he was found worthy of being initiated in her web of wisdom. An individual’s life consisted of certain classified things: real things which were unfrequent and priceless, simply things which formed the routine stuff of life; and ghost things, also called fogs, such as fever, toothache, dreadful disappointments, and death. Three or more things occurring at the same time formed a tower, or, if they came in immediate succession, they made a bridge. Real towers and real bridges were the joys of life, and when the towers came in a series, one experienced supreme rapture; it almost never happened, though. In some circumstances, in a certain light, a neutral thing might look or even actually become real or else, conversely, it might coagulate into a fetid fog. When the joy and the joyless happened to be intermixed, simultaneously or along the ramp of duration, one was confronted with ruined towers and broken bridges.
Children of her type contrive the purest philosophies. Ada had worked out her own little system. Hardly a week had elapsed since Van’s arrival when he was found worthy of being initiated in her web of wisdom. An individual’s life consisted of certain classified things: real things which were unfrequent and priceless, simply things which formed the routine stuff of life; and ghost things, also called fogs, such as fever, toothache, dreadful disappointments, and death. Three or more things occurring at the same time formed a tower, or, if they came in immediate succession, they made a bridge. Real towers and real bridges were the joys of life, and when the towers came in a series, one experienced supreme rapture; it almost never happened, though. In some circumstances, in a certain light, a neutral thing might look or even actually become real or else, conversely, it might coagulate into a fetid fog. When the joy and the joyless happened to be intermixed, simultaneously or along the ramp of duration, one was confronted with ruined towers and broken bridges.
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About Vladimir Nabokov
From 1948 to 1959, Nabokov was a professor of Russian literature at Cornell University. His 1955 novel Lolita ranked fourth on Modern Library's list of the 100 best 20th-century novels in 2007 and is considered one of the greatest works of 20th-century literature. Nabokov's Pale Fire, published in 1962, ranked 53rd on the same list. His memoir, Speak, Memory, published in 1951, is considered among the greatest nonfiction works of the 20th century, placing eighth on Random House's ranking of 20th-century works. Nabokov was a seven-time finalist for the National Book Award for Fiction. He also was an expert lepidopterist and composer of chess problems.