Talk:Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle

Untitled
I have composed a summary of the plot of 'Ada', and placed it with the body of the existing page. I was worried as to the conventions regarding plot spoilers, etc, but I notice that the Wikipedia pages of several other classic works are content to lay out their plots in their entirety Don Quixote, Hamlet, etc., so I will follow their lead. This plot precis is very much a first draft, so I am looking forward to seeing it molded by others. Ada can be a little tricky to follow, so I thought this sort of thing might help keep people from getting lost in the novel (whilst remaining easier to grasp than Brian Boyd's excellent - but more lengthy - summaries, see external link on main article page). AndyPope: 14:28 24th Dec 2004.

Category??
sciene fiction?? --216.165.11.242 23:36, 3 March 2006 (UTC)
 * • It's been called this by a number of people, but Nabokov himself may not have appreciated the label: "I loathe science fiction with its gals and goons, suspense and suspensories" (SO 117). Of course, it's not that simple... —Stephencelis 20:50, 4 March 2006 (UTC)

Background
Shouldn't this article deal with the background of "Antiterra," and all that? The plot summary, as it stands, assumes knowledge of this, without ever explicitly discussing it. I've only read about 20 pages of the book, so I'm not really competent to write the thing (plus, half the time I have no idea what Nabokov is talking about. john k 21:03, 24 May 2006 (UTC)

Absolutely. I wrote the bulk of this plot summary on the fly, and thought at the time that it really needed a "background" or "setting" section to outline the rules of the universe the novel takes place in. This should mention Terra, Antiterra, the L-disaster, the flying carpets, and so forth. Connections could also be drawn in such as section to other Alternative History books, for example PKD's "The Man In The High Castle". I might get around to this in the next couple of weeks if no-one else takes a crack at it. AndyPope 06:59, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

Prologue Definition
I reverted the definition of prologue to 4 chapters... After double-checking, the 4th chapter is something of a bridge between the first 3 chapters and the rest of Part 1 - especially because it ends with a description of Van on his way to Ardis Hall. On the other hand, it fits with the rest of the prolofue in sketching out the underpinnings of Van's emotional life before he arrives at Ardis. So you could argue either way as to whether it is part of the prologue or not. However, it renders the wikipedia article's description of the prologue incorrect if it is left out, i.e. the mention of his first love in the antique shop, etc. If people feel strongly that it should not be considered part of the prologue (which is after all not formally delinated in the novel, and thus merely a critic's arbitrary and subjective categorisation), then by all means revert it to "3 chapters", but please make sure to alter the rest of the paragraph to reflect this. Cheers! AndyPope 06:54, 6 June 2006 (UTC)

Ada Online Offline?
Sadly, the link to "Ada Online" seems to be broken, and I can't find it on Google or on Penn State's site. Is it really gone for good? Must the link be removed? It sounds so cool!

- It's okay now. Rhoganjosh 00:13, 15 December 2006 (UTC)

Style
Nabakov's style in this book is very entertaining (as if this is a surprise!) I was ammused when he did not finish a sentence because he claimed that the rest was "lost". It is just a joy reading Nabakov. I find his style to be witty, ironic, and dark, a good mixture to have. My FAVORITE AUTHOR!!!!!!!! KingCrimson19 01:05, 20 November 2006 (UTC)
 * this discussion page is for discussing and improving the article itself. please stop chatting. --JD de {æ} 01:14, 20 November 2006 (UTC)
 * Charmed I'm sure. Xanthoxyl 17:44, 1 March 2007 (UTC)

Link Issues
Does anyone know why the internal link to "Anna Karenina" doesn't work? —The preceding unsigned comment was added by Allyson Hoffman (talk • contribs) 01:42, 8 May 2007 (UTC).
 * There was a period in the link. Fixed now. (John User:Jwy talk) 01:46, 8 May 2007 (UTC)

Punctuation in the Title
Minor point, but shouldn't the title be Ada, or Ardor: A Family Chronicle (comma after "Ada") instead? BrawlAngry (talk) 07:38, 3 April 2015 (UTC)
 * It's a bit inconsistent, but the most common seems to be without a comma. See this bibliography for reference. MichelCastagne (talk) 21:57, 18 December 2020 (UTC)

External links modified
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Hebephilia
No mention I can see of this theme, which runs through so much of Nabokov's work. It's a long time since I read it, but much of it, I seem to recall, was 12yo Ada having sex with 14yo Van - another obsessive relationship involving a nymphet Chrismorey (talk) 18:37, 25 August 2019 (UTC)