Subject
Re: "Bodkin"
From
Date
Body
A beautiful tradition. I didn’t know about it and I’ve been to more than a
few Jewish weddings. Of course this would escape my notice since, as at most
ceremonies, my eyes were roving, checking who I might most enjoy dancing
with among the brides maids and other women.
The bodkin fool as one description of Charles Bodkinbote, is quite apt as a
contrast with Shade who, for all I can tell, is pure WASP. Being a WASP
myself gives me the right to joke about them. At least this is how I handle
the always tricky matter of who has a right to, or at least who can most
easily be forgiven for, crack/cracking jokes at the expense of whom.
Predictably,
Andrew Brown
On 1/21/07 10:53 PM, "Nabokv-L" <nabokv-l@UTK.EDU> wrote:
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jerry Katsell [mailto:jerry3@roadrunner.com]
> Sent: Saturday, January 20, 2007 2:22 PM
> To: 'NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU' <mailto:%27NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU%27>
> Cc: 'Stanislav A. Shvabrin'
> Subject: "Bodkin"
>
>
>
> Dear List,
>
> I came upon this in an interview of Paul Magid, member of The Flying Karamzaov
> Brothers vaudeville troupe (Door Interview: By Tamara Jaffe-Notier, #190,
> Nov/Dec 2003):
>
> „There‚s a lot of juggling going on in Judaism. There‚s a
> tradition called the „bodkin.‰ The bodkin is a fool who breaks up a solemn
> ceremony,
> like a wedding. The bodkin is supposed to make the bride laugh.
> I‚ve been a bodkin a few times. It‚s a great job, and juggling is part of that
> job. There‚s
> a strong tradition in Judaism of letting go of seriousness and enjoying being
> the fool sometimes. It‚s important to be able to enjoy life. People have
> somehow mixed up morality with the lack of joy. We should enjoy people and
> have a fun time, but instead we make all these lines you can‚t step across.‰
>
> Is this a tradition Charles Bodkinovich Kinbote, aka VN, might have known
> about? What about all them Danish stiletto fun times in PF, from ashen fluff
> and
> waxwing slain and a final trundle of that empty barrow up the lane?
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Jerry Katsell
> Search the Nabokv-L archive at UCSB
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>
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few Jewish weddings. Of course this would escape my notice since, as at most
ceremonies, my eyes were roving, checking who I might most enjoy dancing
with among the brides maids and other women.
The bodkin fool as one description of Charles Bodkinbote, is quite apt as a
contrast with Shade who, for all I can tell, is pure WASP. Being a WASP
myself gives me the right to joke about them. At least this is how I handle
the always tricky matter of who has a right to, or at least who can most
easily be forgiven for, crack/cracking jokes at the expense of whom.
Predictably,
Andrew Brown
On 1/21/07 10:53 PM, "Nabokv-L" <nabokv-l@UTK.EDU> wrote:
> -----Original Message-----
> From: Jerry Katsell [mailto:jerry3@roadrunner.com]
> Sent: Saturday, January 20, 2007 2:22 PM
> To: 'NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU' <mailto:%27NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU%27>
> Cc: 'Stanislav A. Shvabrin'
> Subject: "Bodkin"
>
>
>
> Dear List,
>
> I came upon this in an interview of Paul Magid, member of The Flying Karamzaov
> Brothers vaudeville troupe (Door Interview: By Tamara Jaffe-Notier, #190,
> Nov/Dec 2003):
>
> „There‚s a lot of juggling going on in Judaism. There‚s a
> tradition called the „bodkin.‰ The bodkin is a fool who breaks up a solemn
> ceremony,
> like a wedding. The bodkin is supposed to make the bride laugh.
> I‚ve been a bodkin a few times. It‚s a great job, and juggling is part of that
> job. There‚s
> a strong tradition in Judaism of letting go of seriousness and enjoying being
> the fool sometimes. It‚s important to be able to enjoy life. People have
> somehow mixed up morality with the lack of joy. We should enjoy people and
> have a fun time, but instead we make all these lines you can‚t step across.‰
>
> Is this a tradition Charles Bodkinovich Kinbote, aka VN, might have known
> about? What about all them Danish stiletto fun times in PF, from ashen fluff
> and
> waxwing slain and a final trundle of that empty barrow up the lane?
>
> Best wishes,
>
> Jerry Katsell
> Search the Nabokv-L archive at UCSB
> <http://listserv.ucsb.edu/archives/nabokv-l.html>
> Contact the Editors <mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu>
> All private editorial communications, without exception, are read by both
> co-editors.
> Visit Zembla <http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm>
> View Nabokv-L Policies <http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm>
>
Search the archive: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/archives/nabokv-l.html
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