Day One of Nabokov with Dr. Sexson

The telling is in the details. Nabokov wants us to look past the obvious and examine the details. This is probably similar to catching butterflies and actually appreciating them. On a summer's walk, one may encounter thousands of bugs without ever being aware of it. Nabokov wants us to become aware (of the butterflies, at least). Butterflies are creatures that have taking the art of mimicry to a whole other level. Surely, nothing as gorgeous as butterflies could have evolved if we believe Darwin's theory. It is the attention to detail that the butterflies have developed that we should try to emulate when we read or write or perform or do anything worth doing.

The class list is a work of art. Who would have thought that it would match so perfectly the make-believe list from Lolita? The repetition found in fiction is repeated in real life. Or perhaps it's the other way around: Fiction repeats real life, so therefore our class list maybe isn't so spectacular, after all. It is a cool coincidence, however. One that would seem to be made up to an outside observer.