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[NABOKOV-L] [QUERY] Gogol and "en passant move of the Pawn"
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Gogol: "I am following Gogol through the dismal maze of his life and have selected as basic rhythm of my book the en passant move of the Pawn ( please note this).
(Volodya to Bunny, letter 45, August 9, 1942)
JM: Could someone who knows chess-moves explain how this "move" operates and if, in fact, one finds it as "the basic rhythm" of VN's biography of Gogol?*
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* In my penciled markings on pg.75 (VN/EW Letters), I jotted down: "TOoL"?? I cannot play chess and this note (resulting from a succession of readings, ie: merely associative) has lost its meaning. In my ignorance, until now, VN's "Gogol" brought T.S.Eliot's "Four Quartets" (East Coker) to mind, but not as inducing a particular rhythm ("In my beginning is my end. In succession/Houses rise and fall, crumble, are extended,/Are removed, destroyed, restored, or in their place..."// "The wave cry, the wind cry, the vast waters/ Of the petrel and the porpoise. In my end is my beginning."), but indicating time and literary metamorphosing, as it takes place under our eyes.
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(Volodya to Bunny, letter 45, August 9, 1942)
JM: Could someone who knows chess-moves explain how this "move" operates and if, in fact, one finds it as "the basic rhythm" of VN's biography of Gogol?*
.......................................................................................................
* In my penciled markings on pg.75 (VN/EW Letters), I jotted down: "TOoL"?? I cannot play chess and this note (resulting from a succession of readings, ie: merely associative) has lost its meaning. In my ignorance, until now, VN's "Gogol" brought T.S.Eliot's "Four Quartets" (East Coker) to mind, but not as inducing a particular rhythm ("In my beginning is my end. In succession/Houses rise and fall, crumble, are extended,/Are removed, destroyed, restored, or in their place..."// "The wave cry, the wind cry, the vast waters/ Of the petrel and the porpoise. In my end is my beginning."), but indicating time and literary metamorphosing, as it takes place under our eyes.
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/