Subject
Nabokovian sighting
From
Date
Body
Picking up a book in the furthest corner of a book-case, I came upon "The Oxford Book of Dreams", chosen by Stephen Brooke for the Oxford University Press, 1983.
The Contents were outlined under: Introduction, Prologue, Three parts ( I. From Birth to Death;2. Earthly Things; III. The Dreamworld), Conclusion, Acknowledgements; Index.
Not only was I surprised to find VN quoted in the Book of Dreams, but to see that there were four references to dreams related by him on pages 2, 45-6, 206-7, 243. With the exception of the first, all the others came from "Lolita".
Nabokov's short sentence from "Perfection" came already in the Prologue.
("Human dreams do not easily forget old drudges").
Next, on Part I ( From Birth to Death, item Love and Sex), with a dream taken down by Humbert prefaced by a bit of day-dreaming. Nothing on Item II, but then again on Part III ( The Dream World, items The Absurd and Interpretations) with Humbert's dream about Lolita disguised as Valeria or Charlotte, also the everpresent attack on psychiatrists with H's "never allowing them the slightest glimpse of one's real sexual predicament".
In his Introduction, Stephen Brook wrote that "the dreams in this book are instances of the literary exploitation of the dream experience...the dream as a literary device is bound up with the use its creator chooses to make of it. The invention of a dream is in itself an act of interpretation" He closes his preface noting that "this book has been devised as entertainment, not as thesis or instruction".
I don't know if this sighting has already been described in our List, but I thought that it might still be worthwhile to bring it up, either for the first time or as a repetition. The dreams quoted close to those of VN's offer an interesting link bt. him and the other authors. VN's written dreams, stemming from Lolita, are almost "sober" if we compare the selection with dreams inside dreams and mixed with day-dreams, reminiscences and hallucinations, as we find in ADA...
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
The Contents were outlined under: Introduction, Prologue, Three parts ( I. From Birth to Death;2. Earthly Things; III. The Dreamworld), Conclusion, Acknowledgements; Index.
Not only was I surprised to find VN quoted in the Book of Dreams, but to see that there were four references to dreams related by him on pages 2, 45-6, 206-7, 243. With the exception of the first, all the others came from "Lolita".
Nabokov's short sentence from "Perfection" came already in the Prologue.
("Human dreams do not easily forget old drudges").
Next, on Part I ( From Birth to Death, item Love and Sex), with a dream taken down by Humbert prefaced by a bit of day-dreaming. Nothing on Item II, but then again on Part III ( The Dream World, items The Absurd and Interpretations) with Humbert's dream about Lolita disguised as Valeria or Charlotte, also the everpresent attack on psychiatrists with H's "never allowing them the slightest glimpse of one's real sexual predicament".
In his Introduction, Stephen Brook wrote that "the dreams in this book are instances of the literary exploitation of the dream experience...the dream as a literary device is bound up with the use its creator chooses to make of it. The invention of a dream is in itself an act of interpretation" He closes his preface noting that "this book has been devised as entertainment, not as thesis or instruction".
I don't know if this sighting has already been described in our List, but I thought that it might still be worthwhile to bring it up, either for the first time or as a repetition. The dreams quoted close to those of VN's offer an interesting link bt. him and the other authors. VN's written dreams, stemming from Lolita, are almost "sober" if we compare the selection with dreams inside dreams and mixed with day-dreams, reminiscences and hallucinations, as we find in ADA...
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