Subject
VNBIB: On Nabokov's The Gift
From
Date
Body
Dear colleagues,
The website devoted to Nabokov's "The Gift" has been revamped and
available here: http://www.keystogift.com/
This resource serves as a companion for the book "Keys to The Gift. A
Guide to V. Nabokov’s Novel" (Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2011).
Cloth, 534 pp.
Contents
How to Use This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xix
Note on spellings of names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
xx
The Gift: A Biography of the Novel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxi
Chapter One
COMPOSITION AND PUBLICATION
Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
The Manuscript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
The Unwritten Part Two . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
The History of Publication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
30
The Market Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Towards the Variorum Edition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Chapter Two
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
Imperial Russia and the Golden Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
81
Aesthetic Theories and Literary Criticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
86
The Plot of What to Do? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
St. Petersburg: Turn of the Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
105
Berlin: The Russian Émigré Community Between the Two World Wars . . 113
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Chapter Three
STRUCTURE
Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Plot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Narrative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Development of Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Principal Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
The Godunov-Cherdyntsev Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Zina Mertz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Koncheyev . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Minor Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
Chapter Four
STYLE
Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
Transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Points of View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Allusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
Intertextuality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
Chapter Five
COMMENTARY
The Gift as Hypertext: Digital Databases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
313
What Constitutes a Footnote? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
Playing with Readers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
Types of Commentary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
Visual Aids to Commentary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
Close Reading of the Opening Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
Author’s Name, Dedication, Epigraph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
Close Reading . . .References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368
Chapter Six
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
“I Am Still Looking For Somebody...” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
A Sheer Happenstance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
Passing the Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
Collaboration by Correspondence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380
Some General Principles of Translating Th e Gift . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 381
Challenges in Translating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
Nabokov’s Revisions of Scammell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
What Had To Be Compromised? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411
Chapter Seven
CRITICAL RECEPTION
Contemporary Critics: 1937–38 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415
Contemporary Critics: 1938–56 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424
Contemporary Critics: 1962–77 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436
Critical Reception: 1977–2000s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 474
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 480
Appendixes
Appendix I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487
Appendix II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503
Appendix III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 508
Appendix IV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 518
The publisher’s order information:
http://www.academicstudiespress.com/OrderForm.aspx?book=15
On Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Keys-Gift-Vladimir-Nabokovs-Literatures/dp/1934843113/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321329822&sr=8-1
Best wishes,
Yuri Leving
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
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/
The website devoted to Nabokov's "The Gift" has been revamped and
available here: http://www.keystogift.com/
This resource serves as a companion for the book "Keys to The Gift. A
Guide to V. Nabokov’s Novel" (Boston: Academic Studies Press, 2011).
Cloth, 534 pp.
Contents
How to Use This Book . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi
Acknowledgments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xvii
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xix
Note on spellings of names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
xx
The Gift: A Biography of the Novel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xxi
Chapter One
COMPOSITION AND PUBLICATION
Writing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
The Manuscript . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
Editing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
The Unwritten Part Two . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
The History of Publication . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
30
The Market Value . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
Towards the Variorum Edition . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 72
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
Chapter Two
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
Imperial Russia and the Golden Age . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
81
Aesthetic Theories and Literary Criticism . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
86
The Plot of What to Do? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
St. Petersburg: Turn of the Century . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
105
Berlin: The Russian Émigré Community Between the Two World Wars . . 113
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
Chapter Three
STRUCTURE
Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 127
Plot . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Narrative . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 135
Development of Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 136
Calendar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
Setting . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
Principal Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
The Godunov-Cherdyntsev Family . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
Zina Mertz . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
Koncheyev . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 177
Minor Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 181
Structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 205
Themes . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 213
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 236
Chapter Four
STYLE
Method . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 245
Form . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 249
Style . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 252
Transitions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 257
Points of View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 265
Sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 270
Allusions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 277
Intertextuality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 286
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 305
Chapter Five
COMMENTARY
The Gift as Hypertext: Digital Databases . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
313
What Constitutes a Footnote? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 315
Playing with Readers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 318
Types of Commentary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 322
Visual Aids to Commentary . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 333
Close Reading of the Opening Scene . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 337
Author’s Name, Dedication, Epigraph . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 338
Close Reading . . .References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 368
Chapter Six
ENGLISH TRANSLATION
“I Am Still Looking For Somebody...” . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 373
A Sheer Happenstance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 377
Passing the Test . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 379
Collaboration by Correspondence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 380
Some General Principles of Translating Th e Gift . . . . . . . . . . . .
. 381
Challenges in Translating . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 385
Nabokov’s Revisions of Scammell . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 389
What Had To Be Compromised? . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 397
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 411
Chapter Seven
CRITICAL RECEPTION
Contemporary Critics: 1937–38 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 415
Contemporary Critics: 1938–56 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 424
Contemporary Critics: 1962–77 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 436
Critical Reception: 1977–2000s . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 474
References . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 480
Appendixes
Appendix I . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 487
Appendix II . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 503
Appendix III . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 508
Appendix IV . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 515
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 518
The publisher’s order information:
http://www.academicstudiespress.com/OrderForm.aspx?book=15
On Amazon:
http://www.amazon.com/Keys-Gift-Vladimir-Nabokovs-Literatures/dp/1934843113/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1321329822&sr=8-1
Best wishes,
Yuri Leving
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
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/