Subject
THOUGHTS: supernatural events in the house
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On Apr 17, 2009, at 7:10 AM, Matthew Roth wrote: And we have to accept
that John & Sybil witnessed these events and accepted that they were
"an outward extension or expulsion of insanity" (Hazel's). (Btw, I
agree with Kinbote that it doesn't make much sense, and even seems
cruel, for them to blame Hazel.)
Dear Matt,
I don't have an answer for you. But there does seem to be a recurring
theme in Nabokov of supernatural events as expressions of insanity.
That is of course for those of us who do not accept the "otherworldly"
theme as seriously as others do. I'm not sure why you think this
cruel, since poltergeists are often linked to the presence of a
disturbed adolescent female.
Funny story: I had an experience similar to the flying doggy bed. One
afternoon, a bathroom door in my parents home slammed with apparent
supernatural force. I stuck my head out of another room just in time
to see a heavy soap dish in flight from the bathroom. It did cross my
mind that this might be something spooky. It actually turned out to be
a deer who, chased by a dog, had crashed through the bathroom window
setting in motion the previous events.
But there is a spooky p.s. Hours later when the house had been un-
deered by the fire department I called a friend to tell her the story.
"You'll never guess ..." I told her. There was a pause and then "A
deer was in your house." "How did you guess?" "From your father's
whistling." What was he whistling? The toreador song from Carmen.
Carolyn
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