Although Nabokov is perhaps best known for "Lolita," he also wrote a dark tale called "Bend Sinister." In the preface to the edition I read (Time books), there was some discussion about Nabokov's love of anagrams. One which was interesting (to me) was that between Telemachus (the son of Odysseus, who sought news of his father after he was lost in the "odyssey"; his name literally means "far fighter") and Hamlet. In fact, with the addition of a couple of letters, Telemachus is basically Hamlet spelled backwards.
The ties between Telemachus and Hamlet are interesting. Both are somewhat distant characters (an observer of the absurdity of existence in the one instance, and the son of an absent father in the other [which is which???]), and both are in some way defined by their fathers.
I intend to incorporate Hamlet/Telemachus into the story Kipapa, which is supposed to hint at the trials and tribulations of Cliff, a "military brat" friend I once had: specifically: how do you live (i.e. fully enjoy) the world when you know your time is always limited (i.e. three year terms of service in any given location)? How do you "pace" yourself when you have no idea of the "distance" involved in your life? Love, of course, plays into this story, as it is always the bramble that snags us in existence...
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