Pale Fire
A great book. First published AD 1962, written in English
Pale Fire is a 1962 novel by Vladimir Nabokov. The novel is presented as a 999-line poem titled "Pale Fire", written by the fictional poet John Shade, with a foreword, lengthy commentary, and index written by Shade's neighbor and academic colleague, Charles Kinbote. Together these elements form a narrative in which both fictional authors are central characters. Nabokov wrote Pale Fire in 1960–61, after the success of Lolita had made him financially independent, allowing him to retire from teaching and return to Europe. Nabokov began writing the novel in Nice and completed it in Montreux, Switzerland.
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What it draws on
Timon of AthensGreat book
William Shakespeare, AD 1623
The title comes from Timon's speech on the universal thief, 'the moon's an arrant thief, / And her pale fire she snatches from the sun'. Fitting for a novel in which a commentator steals a poet's work to tell his own story, and in which Timon itself turns up, mistranslated.
Source: Wikipedia, Pale Fire
“As Nabokov pointed out himself, the title of John Shade's poem is from Shakespeare's Timon of Athens: "The moon's an arrant thief, / And her pale fire she snatches from the sun" (Act IV, scene 3), a line often taken as a metaphor about creativity and inspiration.” Read it there
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