Details

Our first class was today and I am looking forward to our semester together. Part of the discussion centered around paying attention to the details other readers might miss but Nabokov was deliberate in his word choices. The class list in Lolita that Humbert sees as a poem is a perfect example. To demonstrate how a class list can be poetic Dr. Sexson read the section from Lolita and then followed up with our class list, which coincidentally, or perhaps even pre-destined, our class list contained unusual repetitions and rhyming beginning with the Alpha and ending with the Omega. If I was not part of the class and university system, I would wonder if the class list was fictionally contrived, but alas, truth is stranger than fiction. Our three Aaron's, two within the first three names - called alphabetically by last name - two Zachary's made poetry out of our real class list. Clearly, finding the significance in the smallest details can be as simple as paying close attention to the things others quickly skim over as unimportant. What an interesting and fun way to begin our in class study of Nabokov.