Talk:Surfing the Aftershocks/@comment-25105032-20140625175002/@comment-78.34.99.72-20140625194253

Alright: The painting is called "Isle of the Dead". It seemingly was a very popular painting in Europe in the early 20th century. It was mentioned in the novel "Despair" by Vladimir Nabokov, in which it had no great meaning, I believe.

Vladimir Nabokov also wrote "Lolita", a novel about a professor falling in love with his student. Ali read it. The character "Vivian Darkbloom" (Anagram: Vivian Darkbloom = Vladimir Nabokov) appears in this novel. "Vivian Darkbloom" was/is Alis alter ego.

Despair is about:

"The narrator and  protagonist of the story, Hermann Karlovich, a Russian emigre businessman, meets a tramp in the city of  Prague, whom he believes to be his  doppelgänger. Even though Felix, the supposed  doppelgänger, is seemingly unaware of their resemblance, Hermann insists that their likeness is most striking. Hermann is married to Lydia, a sometimes silly and forgetful wife (according to Hermann) who has a cousin named Ardalion. It is insinuated at times that Lydia and Ardalion are, in fact, lovers, although Hermann continually stresses how much Lydia loves him. Ardalion is an awful artist, although he refuses to admit it. '''After some time, Hermann shares with Felix a plan for both of them to profit off their shared likeness by having Felix briefly pretend to be Hermann. But after Felix is disguised as Hermann, Hermann kills Felix in order to collect the insurance money on Hermann on March 9. Hermann considers the presumably perfect murder plot to be an artistical expression rather than a scheme to gain money. But as it turns out, there is no resemblance whatsoever between the two men, the murder is not 'perfect, and the murderer is about to be captured by the police in a small hotel in France, where he is hiding. Hermann who is writing the narrative switches to a diary mode at the very end just before his captivity, the last entry is on April 1."

Thus: Doppelgänger (Doppelgänger can have a negative, bad meaning), switching roles, one is killed.