Character List
Sebastian Knight: The subject of the novel: a reknowned novelist, famous for his "research novels," which explore in-depth the life and significance of a given character (needless to say, The Real Life of Sebastian Knight is a research novel about a research novelist). Many of his fictional characters play a role in his "biography," as do many of his real-life relationships.
Olga Olegovna Orlova: A woman whose careful diary -- every day she records the day's weather -- allows V. to describe the weather on the day of Sebastian Knight's birth.
Virginia Knight: Sebastian Knight's mother
Edward Knight: Sebastian Knight's maternal grandfather, a gentleman of means.
Palchin: A man who lived with Virginia Knight after she left her husband; he killed Sebastian's father in a duel.
Captain Belov: A friend of Sebastian Knight's father, his second in the duel with Palchin.
Mr. Goodman: For a time Sebastian Knight's personal secretary, he wrote a biography of his life quite soon after his early death.
Mademoiselle: Sebastian and his half-brother's nameless Swiss Governess.
Alexis Pan: A futurist poet who became friends with Sebastian.
Larissa Pann: Wife of Alexis Pan, also a friend of Sebastian's.
Mr. H: A character created by Sebastian but never used in a novel.
D. W. Gorget: An acquaintance of Sebastian's at Cambridge.
Mr. Jefferson: Sebastian's tutor at Cambridge.
Helen Pratt: A friend of Sebastian's.
Clare Bishop: A long-term girlfriend of Sebastian's.
V.: Presumably the first initial of the narrator, Sebastian Knight's half-brother; the only manner in which he is ever addressed.
Mr. Bishop: Clare Bishop's husband's, coincidentally bearing the same last name.
G. Abeson: The main character from Sebastian Knight's first novel, The Prismatic Bezel.
Percival Q.: A character from Sebastian Knight's novel, Success.
Anne: The love interest of the main character in Success.
Willy: Another character in Success.
P.G. Sheldon: A friend of Sebastian and Clare's.
Mr. Siller: The main character in The Back of the Moon.
Dr. Oates: A heart specialist who took care of Sebastian.
Roy Carswell: A man who painted Sebastian Knight's portrait.
Silbermann: A French business man that Sebastian's brother meets on a train and asks for advice.
Helene Grinstein: A woman that stayed in the same hotel as Sebastian in Blauberg.
Natasha Rosanov: A childhood acquaintance of Sebastian Knight.
Pahl Rahlich Rechnoy: The husband of Madame de Rechnoy.
Madame de Rechnoy: A woman who stayed at the same hotel as Sebastian in Blauberg.
Varvara Mitrofanna: Pahl Pahlich's second wife.
Nina Toorovetz: Pahl Pahlich's first wife, who stayed at the same hotel as Sebastian in Blauberg as her marriage ended and disappeared soon after.
Helene von Graun: A woman who stayed at the same hotel as Sebastian in Blauberg.
Madame Lecerf: A friend of Madame von Graun.
Lydia Bohemsky: A woman who stayed at the same hotel as Sebastian in Blauberg.
Dr. Starov: A doctor who treated the narrator's mother and then treated Sebastian.
Doctor Guinet: The presiding doctor at the St. Damier Hospital.
Monsieur Kegan: The man mistaken for Sebastian at the St. Damier Hospital.
ClassicNote on The Real Life of Sebastian Knight
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