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Fw: Pynchon Digest Discussions of PF
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----- Original Message -----
From: "David Roach" <dcwr@travelin.com>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (33
lines) ------------------
> I sent this tidbit regarding the epigraph of *Pale Fire* to the Pynchon
list
> a few days ago, but it never appeared there. Since they're debating this
> very topic presently (see digests numbered 3389-3391), I can't resist
> posting it here:
>
> ....where does the "story world" of PF begin? I think the title and
copyright
> pages are beyond the story world, as VN is listed as the author on the
title
> page, and Putnam's holds the copyright on VN's work (and it is VN who
> dedicates the novel "to Vera"; Shade would have dedicated the poem "to
> Sybil"). The story world certainly begins on the table-of-contents page.
But
> here's the rub: in the first edition of PF [Putnam's, 1962, and in the
> current "standard," the Vintage International paperback, published in
1989,
> which was apparently reset from the first edition], the epigraph (the
> quotation from Boswell) appears *before* the table of contents, whereas in
> later editions [such as the Berkley Medallion paperback, published in
1963,
> and the Wideview/Perigee paperback, published in 1980], it appears *after*
> the table of contents. The raises the question, who chose the epigraph? Is
> it VN acting as the author of the novel PF, or is it someone within the
> story world (i.e., Kinbote or Shade)?
>
> Whoever chose the epigraph, it would seem to equate Kinbote with Hodge,
the
> "favorite cat," as it's Kinbote who isn't shot. But if Shade or Kinbote
> chose it (that is, if it is part of the story world), then it sheds a far
> different light on our understanding of PF than if VN had chosen it.
>
> In an interview conducted in 1966 by Alfred Appel, VN listed typographical
> corrections to the first edition of PF. He did not mention the movement of
> the epigraph. Whether it was inadvertent or purposeful, I think he must
have
> liked it.
>
> David Roach
>
>
From: "David Roach" <dcwr@travelin.com>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (33
lines) ------------------
> I sent this tidbit regarding the epigraph of *Pale Fire* to the Pynchon
list
> a few days ago, but it never appeared there. Since they're debating this
> very topic presently (see digests numbered 3389-3391), I can't resist
> posting it here:
>
> ....where does the "story world" of PF begin? I think the title and
copyright
> pages are beyond the story world, as VN is listed as the author on the
title
> page, and Putnam's holds the copyright on VN's work (and it is VN who
> dedicates the novel "to Vera"; Shade would have dedicated the poem "to
> Sybil"). The story world certainly begins on the table-of-contents page.
But
> here's the rub: in the first edition of PF [Putnam's, 1962, and in the
> current "standard," the Vintage International paperback, published in
1989,
> which was apparently reset from the first edition], the epigraph (the
> quotation from Boswell) appears *before* the table of contents, whereas in
> later editions [such as the Berkley Medallion paperback, published in
1963,
> and the Wideview/Perigee paperback, published in 1980], it appears *after*
> the table of contents. The raises the question, who chose the epigraph? Is
> it VN acting as the author of the novel PF, or is it someone within the
> story world (i.e., Kinbote or Shade)?
>
> Whoever chose the epigraph, it would seem to equate Kinbote with Hodge,
the
> "favorite cat," as it's Kinbote who isn't shot. But if Shade or Kinbote
> chose it (that is, if it is part of the story world), then it sheds a far
> different light on our understanding of PF than if VN had chosen it.
>
> In an interview conducted in 1966 by Alfred Appel, VN listed typographical
> corrections to the first edition of PF. He did not mention the movement of
> the epigraph. Whether it was inadvertent or purposeful, I think he must
have
> liked it.
>
> David Roach
>
>