Pale Fire - Nabakov

So a respected poet writes a poem. The following day he is killed quite suddenly. His neighbor, a fellow professor, takes it upon himself to write the commentary for the poem. This commentary is shaded with bitterness because the subject of the poem is mostly autobiographical instead of a celebration of the neighbor's homeland, Zembla. We learn through the commentary that the neighbor had a poorly hidden secret and that the poet paid the price for it.
Or do we? Is the neighbor in his right mind? Was he nearby a terrible incident and his fantasy life seized him and won't let go? Does Zembla even exist? Was the killing completely unrelated to anything having to do with the poet? Alternately, did the poet make up the neighbor and write his own commentary?
These are the questions left by 'Pale Fire', an utterly unique book. There are other possible stories behind these, all hinting at themselves but no true answers are given. Does it work?
There were things I really liked about the book. The poem is presented in full. Not much of a poetry fan but I really enjoyed this one. The second part tells of the poets only daughter and is quite touching. The commentary is interesting and sometimes humorous.
I kept wishing that I was reading this with a group of people so that we could bounce ideas off of each other. I liked it, but it is great only in the mysteries that it creates. Other books, for instance 'The Life of Pi' create similar mysteries but also give superior story along the
way.