Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0005876, Sat, 31 Mar 2001 10:00:06 -0800

Subject
[Fwd: RE: Pale Fire and Dr. Johnson's cat "Hodge"]]
Date
Body
------------------
Well, cats are said to be the earthly vehicles for familiar spirits, no?
And doesn't Prof. Boyd argue in his most recent volume that Hazel
Shade's
ghost is the co-author of the book? So perhaps . . . okay, it's a
stretch .
. . .
-------------------------------------------
EDITOR's NOTE. Although I don't know VN's general position on cats, I
recall he & Vera "cat-sat" for May Sarton while staying in her house.
Also, I have never received VN communiques through my own cat.




> -----Original Message-----
> From: D. Barton Johnson [SMTP:chtodel@gte.net]
> Sent: Thursday, March 29, 2001 7:20 PM
> To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> Subject: [Re: Pale Fire and Dr. Johnson's cat "Hodge"]
>
> ------------------
>
> more from Ken Tapscott, kentapscott@hotmail.com:
>
> Hodge does not reappear in the book, so far as I am aware. On a very
> attenuated (and increasingly paranoid) note, Dr. Johnson _did_ receive
> an
> unasked-for recommendation from Pope, on the basis of "London", seeking
> a
> roundabout recommendation for an honorary master's degree through "Dean
> Swift" from the Univ. of Dublin - the purpose of which was to acquire
> for
> Johnson a sinecure of 60 pounds a year from some post or another for
> which a
> master's degree was required: the Earl who passed on Pope's appeal to
> yet
> another Irish nobleman apologized for wasting the man's time if the
> request
> seemed impossible, and begged him to burn the letter in the fire, which
> immediately reminded me of Charlotte's request to Humbert in _Lolita_.
> It
> seems clear just from the epigraph that Nabokov was fully familiar with
> this
> biography, and Pope, of course, is important to _Pale Fire_. And _Pale
> Fire_
> is obviously reflective of Nabokov's monstrously (and hilariously)
> pedantic
> translation and annotation of _Eugene Onegin_. Still, I wonder about
> that
> cat Hodge, and the place of that story at the head of this novel. We all
> know Nabokov didn't put it there just because he thought it was a funny
> story...
>
> -KT
>
>
>
> ***********************************
> >From: "D. Barton Johnson" <chtodel@gte.net>
> >Reply-To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> >To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> >Subject: : Re: Pale Fire and Dr. Johnson's cat]]
> >Date: Thu, 29 Mar 2001 11:57:45 -0800
> >
> >------------------
> > Well, I'm sure the purpose of the Boswell epigraph is quite obscure and
> >clever, but right off the top my head I would suggest that the themes of
> >self-delusion and the uncertain machinations of fate has something to do
> >with it. After all in "Pale Fire" Shade addresses these themes
> >intentionally (as in the fountain/mountain fiasco) and unintentionally
> >(in
> >the famous passage at the end of the poem where Shade declares that he
> >is
> >confident that he will wake the following day, when, of course, he is
> >about
> >to shot dead by Gradus/Grey/Sudarg.) So I would imagine that the use as
> >an
> >epigraph of Johnson's confident, but unfounded, assertion that "Hodge
> >shan't
> >be shot" by the mysterious (or shadowy or grey) figure who is going
> >about
> >London shooting cats is a foreglimpse of some of the novels important
> >themes
> >- indeed, two of VN's constant themes. It's been some time since I read
> >Boswell, but I'm curious: Did Hodge get shot?
> >
> >EDITOR's NOTE. No, Hodge does not get shot. Boyd points out that
> >Boswell's constant urging Dr. J. to visit B's native Scotland (way to
> >the North) may be echoed by Dr. K.'s urging the ZEMBLA theme on Shade.
> >Does anyone know why Dr. J. named his cat "Hodge"?
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com