Spring in Fialta - Response

   Vladimir Nabokov's "Spring in Fialta", much like our previous reading "Hair Jewelry", reminds me of my favorite qualities of films written by Charlie Kaufman (perhaps simply because I think about them a lot). Particularly, I drew parallels between the movies Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind and Anomalisa to this short story; in both works there is a clear focus on recounting events through memory, the implications of problematic relationships, and a narrative that jumps between different time frames. I really enjoy this style of storytelling because it has a way of avoiding the tropes of fully benevolent characters and "bad guys". All the characters in these stories are human, and thus act in morally ambiguous ways that allow us to reflect on their actions and their consequences. Furthermore, because everything we learn in "Spring in Fialta" is told through the filter of Victor, we have to think about the details he might have chosen to leave out, the details he intentionally left in, and whether or not these details are accurate in the first place. We can also ask these same questions of the author Nabokov as well - adding a meta experience to the idea of reading a story as a whole.

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