Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0002671, Thu, 25 Dec 1997 11:14:13 -0800

Subject
Re: PF NArrator?: Ilyin (fwd)
Date
Body
EDITOR's NOTE. Sergey Il'yn <isb@glas.apc.org> is the Moscow translator of
VN's English novels. The translation is mine.
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Ja ne v sostojanii ponjat' odin argument "protiv Shejda", kotoryj
uzhe vtoroj raz voznikaet v spore. Snachala ego privel Charl'z
Nikol', teper' privodit Meri Bellino. Svoditsja on k tomu, chto
poskol'ku Shejd nikak ne mog vydumat' Pnina, postol'ku kommentarij
napisan Kinbotom/Botkinym. Khot' vy menja ubejte, ja ne ponimaju,
pochemu Shejd ne mog pridumat' Pnina, a Kinbot - mog. Razve iz togo,
chto Mashen'ka pojavljaetsja v "Luzhine", sleduet, chto "Luzhina" napisal
Ganin? Ili iz togo, chto v "Ade" tzitiruetsja Shejd, sleduet, chto i
"Adu" napisal Kinbot? Ili, upasi Bog, Pnin, tak ili inache znakomyj
s Shejdom.
--------------------------------
I don't follow the "anti-Shade" argument first advanced by Chaz
Nicol and that Mary Bellino brings up again, to wit: In as much as Shade
couldn't have invented Pnin, the Commentary must have been written by
Kinbote/Botkin. I can't fathom why Shade could not have invented Pnin, but
Kinbote could have. Does it follow from the appearance of "Mary/Mashenka"
in _The Defense_,that Ganin wrote __The Defense_? Or that since Shade is
quoted in _Ada_, that Kinbote wrote _Ada_? Or, God help us, that Pnin is
somehow acquainted with Shade? Or, God help us, that Pnin wrote "Ada"
because he was acquainted with Shade?


-----------------------------------------

V kontze kontzov vse my znaem, chto i Pnina, i Shejda, i Kinbota
vydumal Nabokov. Vopros lish' v tom, kto v sotvorennom Nabokovom
mire PF javljaetsja tvortzom vtorogo, tak skazat', roda. Ibo esli mir
PF edin, to edin i ego sozdatel'. Ne stanem zhe my vpadat' v eres'
bogomilov (nash slavjanskij variant katarov) i utverzhdat', chto
Vselennaja sozdana Bogom, a zemlja D'javolom. Znachit, ostaetsja tol'ko
reshit' kto javljaetsja sozdatelem aetogo mira - Shejd ili Kinbot. I
togda trebuetsja dva nabora argumentov: pervyj - za Shejda i protiv
Kinbota, vtoroj - za Kinbota i protiv Shejda. Pervyj spisok,
vozmozhno ne samyj polnyj, predstavlen Bojdom. Vtorogo poka ne
nabljudaetsja. Nabljudaetsja lish' formula chekhovskogo personazha: "etogo
ne mozhet byt', potomu chto aetogo ne mozhet byt' nikogda".
-----------------------------------
When all is said and done, all we know is that VN invented Pnin,
Shade, and Kinbote. The question is merely who, in VN's created world is
the creator of, so to speak,the second order. For is the world of PF is
indivisible, then so is its creator's. Let us not fall into the Bogomil
heresy (our Slavic version of the Cathars) and affirm that the Universe
was created by God, but the Earth, by the Devil. This means that there is
only one issue to resolve: who is the creator of this world -- Shade or
Kinbote? If so, there are only two sets of arguments: the first --
pro-Shade and anti-Kinbote; the second -- pro-Kinbote and anti-Shade. The
first case, possibly not complete, is presented by Boyd. The second has so
far not been made: only the formulation of a Chekhovian character --"this
cannot be, because this can never be."
---------------------------------

Schastlivogo Rozhdestva vsem - i shejdeantzam, i kinbotiantzam.
-------------------------
Merry Xmas to all -- both Shadeans and Kinboteans!


----------------------------------------
Vsego dobrogo
Best,

Sergey B. Il'in
<isb@glas.apc.org>
Moscow (095) 476-68-48
Pager: Operator: 961-3333 or 974-2222; Me: 29-942

In nature's strife wen fortitude prevails
The victim falters and the victor fails.

Êîãäà Íàòóðó Äóõ îäîëåâàåò,
Íàòóðà âÿíåò, Äóõ îêîëåâàåò.

Nashe delo veseloe.