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Re: THOUGHTS, Shade's shave
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On May 2, 2010, at 8:47 PM, Jansy wrote: ...under the mask of "someone else" I'd like to remind you that I didn't say it was a "rubber duckie" that which was floating in the water. I used a round-about way, concering Shade's "pleasure cruise," to allude to it: "...floating in the bath-tub like a toy-duck (hopefully his slaves were not carrying a razor then)." Various bodily parts were mentioned (face, hands and, perhaps, toes)...
Gary Lipon: Because only just recently it's been suggested, by way of gentle implication, at least that's how I took it, that my powers of perception as regards irony are not what they might be, I feel obliged to ask: This is irony, right?
JM: I'm a bit confused now: are you being ironical when you inquire about irony? My interpretation about Shade's "silent liner" was similar, in kind, to all the other attempts to interpret the meaning of "Beirut," "sunglassers," "liners" (with its nice "silent" placed close to it), or docking ships. However, because I read in the verses a malicious content (not an intent), which was not typical of prudish Shade's, I refrained myself from stating it in full, and used a simple comparison. There was no irony intended.
PS: I wish you'd named me instead of writing "someone else," but this happens to all of us when we often forget the name of who wrote one thing or another. Perhaps I was unfortunate when I re-introduced me playing with "under a mask."
Matt, I enjoyed your considerations in relation to Shade's signs of madness. Nevertheless, aren't you stretching too much the power of words when you apply almost every meaning of terms, such as "wick", as having been considered by and simultaneously included in one sentence? [ Cf.(a) There is no mustache involved. As for "wick," Webster's 2nd defines it thus: "A corner, esp. of the eye or mouth; an angle. Now Dial." The origin is from Old Norse, vijka to turn. W2 says to also see weak, which descends from a larger set of similar words with the meaning "soft, pliant, yielding" and "turn, veer, recede." Since Shade here is talking about how weak his skin is, wick is an excellent choice, since it not only points to a particular part of his face but to that part's weakness, as well. - (b) In essence, then, he is ready to turn himself inside out. We should see this turning (recall that "wick" means "to turn") as related to Shade's muse, his "versipel," or turn-skin--a term usually used to designate a werewolf.]
I'm still hesitating about the mental degradation you've been spotting in these lines. They are no great poetry, in fact but not every bad poem points to madness. We must remember that Kinbote, who was clearly presented as being mad, wrote his commentaries and foreword after Shade's "breakdown" (which you've been evaluating in a linear scale, as being somehow regressive, or "involutionary"). Kinbote has ups and downs, many bouts of sanity in the midst of insanity, clear-headed writing and blindness(hall...ucinations becomes hall...itosis, his absorption with Shade, aso), good metaphors (mainly related to Gradus), oscilating with literal mindedness. His portrait as a madman is much more complex and interesting than Shade's, who seems to be closer to a severe case of neurosis.
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Gary Lipon: Because only just recently it's been suggested, by way of gentle implication, at least that's how I took it, that my powers of perception as regards irony are not what they might be, I feel obliged to ask: This is irony, right?
JM: I'm a bit confused now: are you being ironical when you inquire about irony? My interpretation about Shade's "silent liner" was similar, in kind, to all the other attempts to interpret the meaning of "Beirut," "sunglassers," "liners" (with its nice "silent" placed close to it), or docking ships. However, because I read in the verses a malicious content (not an intent), which was not typical of prudish Shade's, I refrained myself from stating it in full, and used a simple comparison. There was no irony intended.
PS: I wish you'd named me instead of writing "someone else," but this happens to all of us when we often forget the name of who wrote one thing or another. Perhaps I was unfortunate when I re-introduced me playing with "under a mask."
Matt, I enjoyed your considerations in relation to Shade's signs of madness. Nevertheless, aren't you stretching too much the power of words when you apply almost every meaning of terms, such as "wick", as having been considered by and simultaneously included in one sentence? [ Cf.(a) There is no mustache involved. As for "wick," Webster's 2nd defines it thus: "A corner, esp. of the eye or mouth; an angle. Now Dial." The origin is from Old Norse, vijka to turn. W2 says to also see weak, which descends from a larger set of similar words with the meaning "soft, pliant, yielding" and "turn, veer, recede." Since Shade here is talking about how weak his skin is, wick is an excellent choice, since it not only points to a particular part of his face but to that part's weakness, as well. - (b) In essence, then, he is ready to turn himself inside out. We should see this turning (recall that "wick" means "to turn") as related to Shade's muse, his "versipel," or turn-skin--a term usually used to designate a werewolf.]
I'm still hesitating about the mental degradation you've been spotting in these lines. They are no great poetry, in fact but not every bad poem points to madness. We must remember that Kinbote, who was clearly presented as being mad, wrote his commentaries and foreword after Shade's "breakdown" (which you've been evaluating in a linear scale, as being somehow regressive, or "involutionary"). Kinbote has ups and downs, many bouts of sanity in the midst of insanity, clear-headed writing and blindness(hall...ucinations becomes hall...itosis, his absorption with Shade, aso), good metaphors (mainly related to Gradus), oscilating with literal mindedness. His portrait as a madman is much more complex and interesting than Shade's, who seems to be closer to a severe case of neurosis.
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/