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This is the story of Ada and Van - cousins (actually siblings) who begin their sexual relationship at the ages of 12 and 14, respectively. The story follows them from their first meeting through their late 90's in a format that is Van writing about this experience. Woven in are his and Ada's notes about the manuscript, as well as Van's reflections on time and space (he's a philosopher). It is also taking place in an alternate universe, where Russia and America are more or less connected and the world is 50 years behind ours. Themes: language/play on words, erotic/ardor, early enchantment and what stems from it, incest, time The play on words is constant here and often amazing, sometimes irritating. The relation of this book to Lolita was extremely interesting for me and, really, the best part of the read. Sections of this are extremely confusing, especially Van's lectures on "the texture of time" and etc... The eroticness of their world was unique - I liked the random inclusion of the beginnings of the Villas of Venus. If I had not known about the other world thing though, I would have missed it entirely.

2022-11-14 16:47