Beauty plus pity—that is the closest we can get to a definition of art. Where there is beauty there is pity for the simple reason that beauty must die: beauty always dies, the manner dies with the matter, the world dies with the individual.
— Vladimir Nabokov, “Franz Kafka: The Metamorphosis” in Lectures on Literature
Nabokov on “The Metamorphosis” via Christopher Plummer
Dec 8th, 2019 by JGB