Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0017968, Tue, 17 Mar 2009 10:47:54 -0400

Subject
Re: more Martin Gardner
Date
Body
I called up Martin Gardner in 2007 and interviewed him about his connection
to Nabokov. He was kind and generous with his time. He had not been familiar
with Nabokov until reading* Pale Fire*. He liked the book, and he quoted the
book in The Ambidextrous Universe.

Nabokov later counter-quoted him in Ada (see below***). Gardiner expressed
sincere disappointment that Nabokov "spelled my name wrong!" (I don't have
time to go back and listen to the recording of the interview right now,
but the quote was very close to this). My recollection was that the two were
not in correspondence before or during Pale Fire and did not communicate
directly even after it--just a mutual admiration and acknowledgement in
their books.

As of last year, Gardner was in an assisted living facility in Oklahoma, but
had written a book on Chesterton that was slated to come out in 2007. He's
94!

Andrea

***Here is a GoogleBooks link to Gardner's written description of the
exchange between the two, from p. 73 of The Philosophy of Right and Left:
http://books.google.com/books?id=Bp7-veM4-CIC&pg=PA73&lpg=PA73&dq=philosopher+Shade+Nabokov+Gardiner&source=bl&ots=XClfw4UtuV&sig=oLGCP2tDRlstZNI0KGoNUfLujcU&hl=en&ei=sLa_SYX3NoiYtwf35uFR&sa=X&oi=book_result&resnum=1&ct=result#PPA73,M1




> Search the archive<http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en> Contact
> the Editors <nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu> Visit "Nabokov
> Online Journal" <http://www.nabokovonline.com/> Visit Zembla<http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm> View
> Nabokv-L Policies <http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm> Manage
> subscription options <http://listserv.ucsb.edu/>
>
> All private editorial communications, without exception, are read by both
> co-editors.
>

Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en

Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com

Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/








Attachment