Vladimir Nabokov. Ultima Thule : Клуб изучающих испанский языкVladimir Nabokov. Ultima Thule
Vladimir Nabokov. ULTIMA THULE
e at once in my mind a number of suddenly illuminated trifles that I had myself ob-served, yet I have time to marvel that a man who had seemed so upright turned out to be a crook, but unconsciously I have already absorbed the truth, so that my astonishment itself promptly assumes an inverted form (how could one have ever thought honest such an obvious crook?); in other words, the sensitive point of truth lies exactly halflway between the first surprise and the second."
"Right. This is all fairly clear."
"On the other hand, surprise carried to stunning, unimaginable dimensions," Falter went on, "can have extremely painful effects, and it is still nothing