Pale Fire

Absolutely.

I mean, if you think about, you know, I would pair, for example, in this imaginary course of mine, I would have us read Pale Fire and Jazz very close

to each other,

right? So Pale Fire is very metafictional text where you have a poem followed by the footnotes to that poem written by a kind of madman, right? And What you're really kind of dealing with there is, and even the index of that text is like self-aware.

It's an incredible, as you say, game that he's playing.

And aware of book as book.

There's all these kinds of games.

And they're both kind of puzzle boxes of novels.

I'm going to put my bet down metaphorically on this one right here, Bryce, and we'll see if it comes to pass.

that with the I mean I don't know how popular it is other than what I know about it right now because I haven't read it yet but I do have the book is the Between Two Fires oh yeah

that would be a great movie man I really like that book I haven't finished it I know I've been a lazy bastard I'm like halfway through it I just stopped reading it I gotta get back to it that would be a great movie I mean that would be and you know I would like Edgar's to direct that if he did that man that would be so good dude

I mean, I have enough quote-unquote faith in Robert Eggers to adapt anything and to be like...

He could make that...

If he could direct that movie, that'd be fucking awesome.

Yeah, 22 Fires would be great.

Did you read it yet or no? You're still...

All right, here is your 60s literature question coming from David Abelafia.

Truman Capote's In Cold Blood from 1966 and Vladimir Navikov's Pale Fire from 1962 both take their titles from what Shakespeare problem play about a misanthropic nobleman from Greece? And your 50s news and politics question, also from David Abelafia.

Linking the Atlantic Ocean and the Great Lakes, what system of rivers, locks, and canals and channels in eastern Canada and the northern United States opened to shipping on April 25th, 1959?

While our contestants are thinking about their answers, go over to your closest computer.

I also keep thinking like of Nabokov.

It's like Pale Fire as well

around this

book.

I have a copy of

pale fire.

Do you guys know that one? I

have not read pale fire, but I love Navikov.

I've read Lolita and V as well, which is V is a tough hang, but it's still a very interesting book.

Yeah.

I'll link to it in the show notes.

Um, I'd say Pale Fire is always my go-to as my number one, by-

Okay

...

Mad.

And so that incident, this idea of people walking around with revolvers, planning to kill you, to assassinate you, that's in Lolita, that is in Pale Fire.

It's in so many of Nabokov's stories and things.

You know, it's a kind of obsession for him, and you can absolutely understand why.

have the blue check you're not stuck to the 250 characters or whatever anyway

right right anyway interesting question and certainly amongst you know short story writers it fits someone like Crane perfectly Crane is exactly the kind of person who would be good at that genre because he's good with those little you know evoking a lot in a short period of time so yeah Yeah, so that's a good point about Pale Fire.

You know, Nabokov did this trick a couple of times basing a novel on a poem.

I mean, obviously, that's what Lolita is as well, right? It's sort of based on Annabel Lee.