Amber to Zen

Blogging for this class requires a lot of thought, but not just any kind of thought. Only intelligent thoughts will suffice. Some days that is a real challenge. So far, my spark has not happened with regard to page 83 in Pale Fire, though I hope to break the block before class tomorrow. I will ponder the enigma of this section further and return to this post as soon as that spark of magic happens, otherwise this will be a seriously boring post to read.

Alphabetic literary family. What was Mrs. G reading? Amber to Zen. I have been thinking and looking for books beginning with Amber and Zen that were available to Nabokov and must confess, I am not having much luck. I hope others in the class have found the jewel in this passage.

Will edit or revise if I have an epiphany.

I GOT IT! I GOT IT!I GOT IT!

Amber refers to Forever Amber

Anthony Hope's popular novel of 1893, The Prisoner of Zenda. is where the Zen comes from.

How did I figure this out?

visit Zembla and search Amber to Zen and read the letter exchange between Brian Boyd and Neil Hornick