Thursday, October 15, 2009

Pale Fires

When we were looking at this picture in class today, I was talking to Chris about how much I liked it, and he commented that it almost looked like fire on the head and breast of this waxwing image. After I studied the picture and thought about this comment I realized it was actual a pale fire on the bird. What a perfect choice of bird to begin a novel called Pale Fire written by a trickster like Nabokov. We talked about the waxwing being a trickster in class on Tuesday, and our discussion today about the format of Pale Fire sets Nabokov up as a master of deception and trickery. October is an apropos month to be studying a tricky novel by a tricky author.










Cedar Waxwing
(Bombycilla cedrorum)

June, 2003. © AJ Hand

The colors of this waxwing reminded me of a fiery sunset and so I decided to include it also.

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