• Log In

The Partially Examined Life Philosophy Podcast

A Philosophy Podcast and Philosophy Blog

Subscribe on Android Spotify patreon
  • Home
  • Podcast
    • PEL Network Episodes
    • Publicly Available PEL Episodes
    • Paywalled and Ad-Free Episodes
    • PEL Episodes by Topic
    • Nightcap
    • (sub)Text
    • Pretty Much Pop
    • Nakedly Examined Music
    • Phi Fic Podcast
    • Combat & Classics
    • Constellary Tales
  • Blog
  • About
    • PEL FAQ
    • Meet PEL
    • About Pretty Much Pop
    • Nakedly Examined Music
    • Meet Phi Fic
    • Listener Feedback
    • Links
  • Join
    • Become a Citizen
    • Join Our Mailing List
    • Log In
  • Donate
  • Store
    • Episodes
    • Swag
    • Everything Else
    • Cart
    • Checkout
    • My Account
  • Contact
  • Mailing List
Phi Fic LogoPhi Fic means Philosophical Fiction. Each episode, we have a candid dicussion on a heady work of of fiction, full of SPOILERS. Join host Nathan Hanks and readers Cezary Baraniecki, Daniel St. Pierre, Laura Davis, and Mary Claire, plus the occasional guest.

Subscribe on Apple Podcasts. Refer your friends to us at PhiFicPodcast.com!

Originating from The Partially Examined Life’s Not School and its Philosophical Fiction group. Sign up for a small recurring donation for access to many more discussions!

Phi Fic #5 “Pale Fire” by Vladimir Nabokov

September 1, 2016 by Nathan Hanks 7 Comments

http://www.podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.libsyn.com/phifipodcast/Phi_Fic_5_Pale_Fire.mp3

Podcast (phi-fi-podcast): Play in new window | Download (Duration: 1:56:30 — 106.9MB)

Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov
Pale Fire by Vladimir Nabokov

So, you think Lolita was Nabokov’s best? We humbly submit a solid contender. Cezary, in his wisdom, suggested the book for this episode: Pale Fire. Structured as a 999-line poem followed by an extensive afterword and index, Pale Fire has been described by the critic Harold Bloom as “the surest demonstration of [Nabokov’s] genius…”

Join us as Cezary kicks it off with an excellent overview, and Nathan connects the mystery of the main character Charles Kinbote with the disorder of Batman’s Joker and how the anarchy of each of them belies their world order. The rest of us—Mary, Daniel and Laura—just sort of "ooh" and "ahh" about the beauty and sheer poetry of what has been called not just one of the top 100 English-language novels of all time but, according to the critic Larry MaCaffery, perhaps the number one.

Buy the book.

Thanks to Christopher Nolen for our music.

If you have thoughts, recommendations, or questions that you want to send our way, please do via phificpodcast@gmail.com.
Hear more Phi Fic.

Facebooktwitterredditpinterestlinkedinmailby feather

Filed Under: Phi Fic Podcast Tagged With: literature, Lolita, novel, Pale Fire, philosophy, Story, Vladimir Nabokov

Comments

  1. Salvatore says

    September 3, 2016 at 12:06 pm

    Great episode, I think, but your sound levels are so all over the place that I gave up about a third of the way through…

    Reply
  2. Laura Davis says

    September 8, 2016 at 2:26 pm

    Thanks for listening Salvatore and I’m so sorry there were technical problems. Will check with our audio guy and hopefully will fix the issue.

    Laura

    Reply
  3. Prof Sattar says

    November 2, 2016 at 12:30 am

    Hi folks,

    Laurel, myrtle and bay… may be out of season but you have earned a bouquet if not a wreath of ovation. Heard barely two programmes: this, and the one on Aristotle holding forth on friendship. I found both very entertaining and enlightening. Your free-flowing, conversational, endearingly jokey, mode of presentation deserves to be patented, branded, and sold to the classrooms of Oxford, Cambridge, Yale, Harvard. Stanford, and the hallowed cathedrals of Vatican. Thou shalt not bore thy captive listeners.
    As a sound engineer manqué, and an amateur voice coach, I’d urge you to monitor the audio quality. Since nobody is consuming your podcasts in a soundproof studio— audibility and intelligiblity is absolutely essential. I found the female voice rather scratchy and unintelligible. She and her mike could have benefited from a little fine tuning.

    Select voices for clarity and differentiation. Remember Ben Jonson’s rubric: Oratio, imago, animi…Speak that I may see you !

    Reply
  4. Richard Smith says

    December 7, 2016 at 2:16 am

    Yeah, ‘Pale Fire’ IS ‘an amazing ride’. I’ve read and loved Nabokov for forty years but I remember the thrill of ‘Pale Fire’ when it was recommended by a friend in 1977. (I can see that battered library hardback in my hands.) As a Russian aristocrat, an author and a scholar, Nabokov could have come to the US, settled in a cultured expatriate enclave and looked down his nose. Instead, he spent much of his time exploring the America’s national parks and embracing the language and culture; the result was ‘Lolita’ and ‘Pale Fire’. What books and what very American books they are, says this Aussie. (I’m not an insomniac; it’s 6.20 pm here.)

    Reply
  5. Richard Smith says

    December 7, 2016 at 4:40 am

    Sorry, I didn’t say how much I enjoyed your discussion. ‘Deconstruction’ is bunk; real literary criticism is about delight. Thank you.

    Reply
    • Daniel says

      January 15, 2017 at 6:50 pm

      Glad to hear that you found us worth your time, Richard. Pale Fire was a formidable book. I had the feeling I could’ve spent the better part of a year getting lost in its secrets. Thanks for the kind words.

      Reply
      • Emily says

        November 3, 2020 at 9:05 pm

        Please get lost in its secrets! I would love to listen to hours of discussion!!

        Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Citizenship has its Benefits

Become a PEL Citizen
Become a PEL Citizen, and get access to all paywalled episodes, early and ad-free, including exclusive Part 2's for episodes starting September 2020; our after-show Nightcap, where the guys respond to listener email and chat more causally; a community of fellow learners, and more.

Rate and Review

Nightcap

Listen to Nightcap
On Nightcap, listen to the guys respond to listener email and chat more casually about their lives, the making of the show, current events and politics, and anything else that happens to come up.

Subscribe to Email Updates

Check your inbox or spam folder to confirm your subscription.

Support PEL

Buy stuff through Amazon and send a few shekels our way at no extra cost to you.

Tweets by PartiallyExLife

Recent Comments

  • Evan Hadkins on PEL Nightcap Late January 2021
  • Benjamin Bramble on PEL Nightcap Early January 2021
  • Peter on Episode 213: Nietzsche’s Zarathustra (Part One)
  • Bill Youmans on PREVIEW-Ep. 260: Locke on Moral Psychology
  • johnnythunder on Episode 14: Machiavelli on Politics

About The Partially Examined Life

The Partially Examined Life is a philosophy podcast by some guys who were at one point set on doing philosophy for a living but then thought better of it. Each episode, we pick a text and chat about it with some balance between insight and flippancy. You don’t have to know any philosophy, or even to have read the text we’re talking about to (mostly) follow and (hopefully) enjoy the discussion

Become a PEL Citizen!

As a PEL Citizen, you’ll have access to a private social community of philosophers, thinkers, and other partial examiners where you can join or initiate discussion groups dedicated to particular readings, participate in lively forums, arrange online meet-ups for impromptu seminars, and more. PEL Citizens also have free access to podcast transcripts, guided readings, episode guides, PEL music, and other citizen-exclusive material. Click here to join.

Blog Post Categories

  • (sub)Text
  • Aftershow
  • Announcements
  • Audiobook
  • Book Excerpts
  • Citizen Content
  • Citizen Document
  • Citizen News
  • Close Reading
  • Combat and Classics
  • Constellary Tales
  • Featured Article
  • General Announcements
  • Interview
  • Letter to the Editor
  • Misc. Philosophical Musings
  • Nakedly Examined Music Podcast
  • Nakedly Self-Examined Music
  • NEM Bonus
  • Not School Recording
  • Not School Report
  • Other (i.e. Lesser) Podcasts
  • PEL Music
  • PEL Nightcap
  • PEL's Notes
  • Personal Philosophies
  • Phi Fic Podcast
  • Podcast Episode (Citizen)
  • Podcast Episodes
  • Pretty Much Pop
  • Reviewage
  • Song Self-Exam
  • Things to Watch
  • Vintage Episode (Citizen)
  • Web Detritus

Follow:

Twitter | Facebook | Google+ | Apple Podcasts

Copyright © 2009 - 2021 · The Partially Examined Life, LLC. All rights reserved. Privacy Policy · Terms of Use · Copyright Policy

Copyright © 2021 · Magazine Pro Theme on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

We use cookies to ensure that we give you the best experience on our website. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it.OkPrivacy policy