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Fw: [NABOKV-L] SIGHTING: "a salad of racial genes"
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Andrea Pitzer: In Jeffrey Meyers' Edmund Wilson: A Biography, Meyers notes that Nabokov used the term "a salad of racial genes" (p. 286) to describe Wilson's fourth and last wife, Elena Mumm Thornton, who was German and Russian. The phrase, of course, is the same that HH uses to describe his father in Lolita. The quote is not sourced...
JM: Wilson wrote about Elena to Nabokov in his letter dated Nov.17,1946 (n.154,p.201) "I am marrying a girl named Elena Thornton -née Mumm and the daughter of a man who made champagne. Her mother was Russian - named Struve."
At that time "Bend Sinister" was sent to the printers. It was when, a propos his detestation of Malraux, VN states: "The longer I live the more I become convinced that the only thing that matters in literature, is the (more or less irrational) shamanstvo of a book, i.e, that the good writer is first of all an enchanter." (VN/EW,p.203).
In 1948 there is a discussion about a novel "VN has beel palpating in his mind" ( Lolita) with exchanges about Havelock Ellis's "Études de Psychologie Sexuelle,VI, Paris, 1926 case of a "Confession sexuelle d'un Russe du Sud."
S.Karlinski, in his informative note, adds that "Nabokov's reading in June 1948 of the nymphet hunters confession ...may well have provided the additional stimulus for the next stage of the book's development. Considering Wilson's subsequent dislike of Lolita, it is curious that is was Wilson...who provided this stimulus." (p.229)
In letter 263 (Nov.30,1954)p.319, Wilson notes about "Lolita" that "Elena seems to have liked the book better than either Mary or I - partly, I think, because she has seen America from the foreigner's point of view and understands how it looks to your hero. The little girl, for example, seems quite all right to her, though rather implausible to me."
Mary McCarthy's letter to Wilson and forwarded to VN (she agreed) mentions something curious about "Lolita" (amazing!)
"I thought the writing was terribly sloppy all through, perhaps worse in the second volume. It was full of what teachers call haziness, and all Vladimir's hollowest joeks and puns. I almost wondered whether this wasn't deliberate - part of the idea."
Elena's letter, sensibility and vision:
"...The little girl seems very real and accurate and her attractiveness and seductiveness are absolutely plausible. The hero's disgust of grown-up women is not very different, for example, from Gide's, the difference being that Gide is smug...your hero is made to go through hell. The suburban, hotel, motel descriptions are just terribly funny ... Why shouldn't the book be published in England, or certainly in France and then come back here in a somewhat expurgated form and be read greedily? Unfortunately, my opinion is very unimportant..." (p.321, Nov.30, 1954)
VN thanked Wilson's letter and additions in Feb.19, 1955:"...thank you for your letters - Elena's was especially charming."
Couldn't find VN's comments about Elena's "salad of racial genes." This doesn't mean much because there are so many other underlined items that I got sidetracked...
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JM: Wilson wrote about Elena to Nabokov in his letter dated Nov.17,1946 (n.154,p.201) "I am marrying a girl named Elena Thornton -née Mumm and the daughter of a man who made champagne. Her mother was Russian - named Struve."
At that time "Bend Sinister" was sent to the printers. It was when, a propos his detestation of Malraux, VN states: "The longer I live the more I become convinced that the only thing that matters in literature, is the (more or less irrational) shamanstvo of a book, i.e, that the good writer is first of all an enchanter." (VN/EW,p.203).
In 1948 there is a discussion about a novel "VN has beel palpating in his mind" ( Lolita) with exchanges about Havelock Ellis's "Études de Psychologie Sexuelle,VI, Paris, 1926 case of a "Confession sexuelle d'un Russe du Sud."
S.Karlinski, in his informative note, adds that "Nabokov's reading in June 1948 of the nymphet hunters confession ...may well have provided the additional stimulus for the next stage of the book's development. Considering Wilson's subsequent dislike of Lolita, it is curious that is was Wilson...who provided this stimulus." (p.229)
In letter 263 (Nov.30,1954)p.319, Wilson notes about "Lolita" that "Elena seems to have liked the book better than either Mary or I - partly, I think, because she has seen America from the foreigner's point of view and understands how it looks to your hero. The little girl, for example, seems quite all right to her, though rather implausible to me."
Mary McCarthy's letter to Wilson and forwarded to VN (she agreed) mentions something curious about "Lolita" (amazing!)
"I thought the writing was terribly sloppy all through, perhaps worse in the second volume. It was full of what teachers call haziness, and all Vladimir's hollowest joeks and puns. I almost wondered whether this wasn't deliberate - part of the idea."
Elena's letter, sensibility and vision:
"...The little girl seems very real and accurate and her attractiveness and seductiveness are absolutely plausible. The hero's disgust of grown-up women is not very different, for example, from Gide's, the difference being that Gide is smug...your hero is made to go through hell. The suburban, hotel, motel descriptions are just terribly funny ... Why shouldn't the book be published in England, or certainly in France and then come back here in a somewhat expurgated form and be read greedily? Unfortunately, my opinion is very unimportant..." (p.321, Nov.30, 1954)
VN thanked Wilson's letter and additions in Feb.19, 1955:"...thank you for your letters - Elena's was especially charming."
Couldn't find VN's comments about Elena's "salad of racial genes." This doesn't mean much because there are so many other underlined items that I got sidetracked...
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/