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diamonds & aquamarines in Ada
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In Ada (1.1), the twin sisters Aqua and Marina are the daughters of general Durmanov. Poor Aqua goes mad after marrying Demon Veen (her sister's lover, the father of Van and Ada).
In Literaturnaya zapis'. Polyot v Evropu (A Literary Note. Flight to Europe, 1924) Anton Krayniy (penname of Z. N. Hippius) speaks of gems and precious stones in Russian literature, from almaz (diamond) to skromnyi akvamarin (modest aquamarine):
была и "литература", была общая чаша, громадная, полная... чем? драгоценными камнями? Ценными во всяком случае. Разной ценности. От алмаза до скромного аквамарина. Даже еще проще попадались камушки.
In her article Hippius praises, among several other writers, Artsybashev (the author of Sanin, a scandalous novel, 1907):
Арцыбашев -- настоящий художник. У него очень неровный, со срывами, но сильный талант. До сих пор помнится мне его давняя, острая и глубокая вещь -- "Смерть Ланде". Но Арцыбашев не только художественный писатель, он как-то весь талантлив, сам; не художник-беллетрист, а и художник-человек.
In his Litaraturnye eskizy (Literary Sketches, 1924) Ayhenvald calls Artsybashev bezalkogol'nyi pisatel' (a non-alcoholic writer) contrasting him to Maupassant (whom the critic compares to shampanskoe vino, champagne):
В жизни тело имеет все права; на искусство же имеет право только душа тела. Между тем, Арцыбашев ограничивается телом тела. И, в связи с этим, он рисует его грубо, цинично, без той игры и остроты, какая пенится и сверкает, и колет, например, у Мопассана. В иглах и искрах шампанскаго вина приобретает свою красоту и эротический алкоголизм; но Арцыбашев, в сущности, - без'алкогольный писатель. Сам не пьяный, и других, если и опьяняющий, то во всяком случае хмелем не тонким, он всегда теоретизирует, он умышляет, а не мыслит, и кустарно шьет свои произведения белыми нитками тенденций. Неизменный проповедник, моралист своей аморальности, идеолог своих маленьких идей, он только и делает, что поучает, лишенный духовной свободы, в крепостной зависимости от своих же принципов и предрассудков... Как неожиданное открытие, как новейшую Америку, как неслыханную ересь, провозглашает писатель мысль о взаимном тяготении полов. В себе он видит Ньютона этого тяготения и доказывает его сценами изнасилования, которых, например, в рассказе "Женщина, стоящая посреди", насчитывается несколько. Признаком умственной смелости считает наш автор и такия разсуждения: "мать... другом, конечно, может быть, но какая же это заслуга - быть другом чьим-бы то ни было, а тем более - своего собственнаго щенка!.. любая свинья - друг своего поросенка"... Когда с отвагою передового гимназиста вам преподносят такого рода откровения, то становится неловко, и вы чувствуете, что всякий ум легко доказал бы здесь свое полное alibi.
In a letter of November 25, 1892, to Suvorin Chekhov complains of the lack of alcohol in the works of contemporary artists: "You are a hard drinker, and I have regaled
you with sweet lemonade [Chekhov's story Ward No. 6], and you, after giving the lemonade its due, justly observe that there is no spirit in it. That is just what is lacking in our productions—the alcohol which could intoxicate and subjugate..."
A character in Chekhov's story Bab'ye tsarstvo (A Woman's Kingdom, 1894), the lawyer Lysevich suggests to Anna Akimovna that she should read Maupassant. In order to enjoy him she has to drink each line:
"Of all contemporary writers, however, I prefer Maupassant." Lysevich opened his eyes. "A fine writer, a perfect writer!" Lysevich shifted in his seat. "A wonderful artist! A terrible, prodigious, supernatural artist!" Lysevich got up from the sofa and raised his right arm. "Maupassant!" he said rapturously. "My dear, read Maupassant! one page of his gives you more than all the riches of the earth! Every line is a new horizon... Yes, it is inconceivable," he pronounced, as though in despair; "his last thing overwhelmed me, intoxicated me! But I am afraid you will not care for it. To be carried away by it you must savour it, slowly suck the juice from each line, drink it in.... You must drink it in!... " (Chapter Three, Dinner)
Before the curtain falls in Chekhov's play Uncle Vanya (1897) Sonya promises to Voynitskiy that they will see the sky swarming with diamonds.
...at the worst we shall live quietly, you as my housekeeper, I as your epileptic, and then, as in your Chekhov, "we shall see the whole sky swarm with diamonds."'
'Did you find them all, Uncle Van?' she inquired, sighing, laying her dolent head on his shoulder. (Ada, 1.31)
Ada speaks of the loose diamonds of the necklace which Van wanted to give her but which he tore apart when he saw her with Percy de Prey. La Riviere de Diamants (The Diamond Necklace) is a stroy by Mlle Lariviere, Lucette's governess. (1.13) On Terra this story is known as La Parure by Guy de Maupassant (see Vivian Darkbloom's 'Notes to Ada').
Ada's diamonds are not as precious as Lucette's aquamarine tears: A dewdrop on russet moss eventually finds a stylistic response in the aquamarine tear on her flaming cheekbone. Another trip from the port to the interior reveals the central girl's long white left thigh; we visit souvenir stalls: Ada's red-lacquered talons, which lead a man's reasonably recalcitrant, pardonably yielding wrist out of the dim east to the bright russet west, and the sparkle of her diamond necklace, which, for the nonce, is not much more valuable than the aquamarines on the other (west) side of Novelty Novel lane. (2.8) Btw., Lucette's tears remind one of Van's words to Ada: "We can collect your tears [diamonds of the torn necklace] later. I can't wait." (1.31)
libido + Ai + Milo = alibi + idol mio (Ai - the champagne Van, Ada and Lucette drink in 'Ursus,' 2.8; Milo - Milos, cf. Venus de Milo;* idol mio - "My idol," one of the two songs Onegin hummed in Pushkin's EO, Eight: XXXVIII: 12-13)
*Ayhenvald speaks of Venus de Milo in his essay (in The Silhouettes of Russian Writers) on Gleb Uspenski, the author of Vypryamila (Straightened out by her). Gleb Uspenski (1843-1902) was one of several Russian writers who went mad. Btw., Sanin + i = Sinani (the doctor who tried to cure Uspenski)
Alexey Sklyarenko
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In Literaturnaya zapis'. Polyot v Evropu (A Literary Note. Flight to Europe, 1924) Anton Krayniy (penname of Z. N. Hippius) speaks of gems and precious stones in Russian literature, from almaz (diamond) to skromnyi akvamarin (modest aquamarine):
была и "литература", была общая чаша, громадная, полная... чем? драгоценными камнями? Ценными во всяком случае. Разной ценности. От алмаза до скромного аквамарина. Даже еще проще попадались камушки.
In her article Hippius praises, among several other writers, Artsybashev (the author of Sanin, a scandalous novel, 1907):
Арцыбашев -- настоящий художник. У него очень неровный, со срывами, но сильный талант. До сих пор помнится мне его давняя, острая и глубокая вещь -- "Смерть Ланде". Но Арцыбашев не только художественный писатель, он как-то весь талантлив, сам; не художник-беллетрист, а и художник-человек.
In his Litaraturnye eskizy (Literary Sketches, 1924) Ayhenvald calls Artsybashev bezalkogol'nyi pisatel' (a non-alcoholic writer) contrasting him to Maupassant (whom the critic compares to shampanskoe vino, champagne):
В жизни тело имеет все права; на искусство же имеет право только душа тела. Между тем, Арцыбашев ограничивается телом тела. И, в связи с этим, он рисует его грубо, цинично, без той игры и остроты, какая пенится и сверкает, и колет, например, у Мопассана. В иглах и искрах шампанскаго вина приобретает свою красоту и эротический алкоголизм; но Арцыбашев, в сущности, - без'алкогольный писатель. Сам не пьяный, и других, если и опьяняющий, то во всяком случае хмелем не тонким, он всегда теоретизирует, он умышляет, а не мыслит, и кустарно шьет свои произведения белыми нитками тенденций. Неизменный проповедник, моралист своей аморальности, идеолог своих маленьких идей, он только и делает, что поучает, лишенный духовной свободы, в крепостной зависимости от своих же принципов и предрассудков... Как неожиданное открытие, как новейшую Америку, как неслыханную ересь, провозглашает писатель мысль о взаимном тяготении полов. В себе он видит Ньютона этого тяготения и доказывает его сценами изнасилования, которых, например, в рассказе "Женщина, стоящая посреди", насчитывается несколько. Признаком умственной смелости считает наш автор и такия разсуждения: "мать... другом, конечно, может быть, но какая же это заслуга - быть другом чьим-бы то ни было, а тем более - своего собственнаго щенка!.. любая свинья - друг своего поросенка"... Когда с отвагою передового гимназиста вам преподносят такого рода откровения, то становится неловко, и вы чувствуете, что всякий ум легко доказал бы здесь свое полное alibi.
In a letter of November 25, 1892, to Suvorin Chekhov complains of the lack of alcohol in the works of contemporary artists: "You are a hard drinker, and I have regaled
you with sweet lemonade [Chekhov's story Ward No. 6], and you, after giving the lemonade its due, justly observe that there is no spirit in it. That is just what is lacking in our productions—the alcohol which could intoxicate and subjugate..."
A character in Chekhov's story Bab'ye tsarstvo (A Woman's Kingdom, 1894), the lawyer Lysevich suggests to Anna Akimovna that she should read Maupassant. In order to enjoy him she has to drink each line:
"Of all contemporary writers, however, I prefer Maupassant." Lysevich opened his eyes. "A fine writer, a perfect writer!" Lysevich shifted in his seat. "A wonderful artist! A terrible, prodigious, supernatural artist!" Lysevich got up from the sofa and raised his right arm. "Maupassant!" he said rapturously. "My dear, read Maupassant! one page of his gives you more than all the riches of the earth! Every line is a new horizon... Yes, it is inconceivable," he pronounced, as though in despair; "his last thing overwhelmed me, intoxicated me! But I am afraid you will not care for it. To be carried away by it you must savour it, slowly suck the juice from each line, drink it in.... You must drink it in!... " (Chapter Three, Dinner)
Before the curtain falls in Chekhov's play Uncle Vanya (1897) Sonya promises to Voynitskiy that they will see the sky swarming with diamonds.
...at the worst we shall live quietly, you as my housekeeper, I as your epileptic, and then, as in your Chekhov, "we shall see the whole sky swarm with diamonds."'
'Did you find them all, Uncle Van?' she inquired, sighing, laying her dolent head on his shoulder. (Ada, 1.31)
Ada speaks of the loose diamonds of the necklace which Van wanted to give her but which he tore apart when he saw her with Percy de Prey. La Riviere de Diamants (The Diamond Necklace) is a stroy by Mlle Lariviere, Lucette's governess. (1.13) On Terra this story is known as La Parure by Guy de Maupassant (see Vivian Darkbloom's 'Notes to Ada').
Ada's diamonds are not as precious as Lucette's aquamarine tears: A dewdrop on russet moss eventually finds a stylistic response in the aquamarine tear on her flaming cheekbone. Another trip from the port to the interior reveals the central girl's long white left thigh; we visit souvenir stalls: Ada's red-lacquered talons, which lead a man's reasonably recalcitrant, pardonably yielding wrist out of the dim east to the bright russet west, and the sparkle of her diamond necklace, which, for the nonce, is not much more valuable than the aquamarines on the other (west) side of Novelty Novel lane. (2.8) Btw., Lucette's tears remind one of Van's words to Ada: "We can collect your tears [diamonds of the torn necklace] later. I can't wait." (1.31)
libido + Ai + Milo = alibi + idol mio (Ai - the champagne Van, Ada and Lucette drink in 'Ursus,' 2.8; Milo - Milos, cf. Venus de Milo;* idol mio - "My idol," one of the two songs Onegin hummed in Pushkin's EO, Eight: XXXVIII: 12-13)
*Ayhenvald speaks of Venus de Milo in his essay (in The Silhouettes of Russian Writers) on Gleb Uspenski, the author of Vypryamila (Straightened out by her). Gleb Uspenski (1843-1902) was one of several Russian writers who went mad. Btw., Sanin + i = Sinani (the doctor who tried to cure Uspenski)
Alexey Sklyarenko
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
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Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/