"Some of my characters are, no doubt, pretty beastly, but I really don't care, they are outside my inner self like the mournful monsters of a cathedral façade--demons placed there merely to show that they have been booted out."

— Nabokov, Vladimir (1899-1977)


Place of Publication
New York
Publisher
McGraw-Hill Book Co.
Date
July, 1962; November 22, 1962; 1973
Metaphor
"Some of my characters are, no doubt, pretty beastly, but I really don't care, they are outside my inner self like the mournful monsters of a cathedral façade--demons placed there merely to show that they have been booted out."
Metaphor in Context
I don't know. Maybe. Some of my characters are, no doubt, pretty beastly, but I really don't care, they are outside my inner self like the mournful monsters of a cathedral façade--demons placed there merely to show that they have been booted out. Actually, I'm a mild old gentleman who loathes cruelty.
(p. 19)
Provenance
Reading Leland de la Durantaye's Style is Matter
Citation
Nabokov, Vladimir. Strong Opinions (New York: Vintage International, 1990).
Date of Entry
04/01/2011

The Mind is a Metaphor is authored by Brad Pasanek, Assistant Professor of English, University of Virginia.