Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0017427, Sun, 7 Dec 2008 12:39:12 -0500

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Re: [NABOKOV-L] Query on Alps, Bera range, Algonquin...Birches
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Dear Jansy:

"I once read that one could know a Russian writer by his reference to sparkling snow and birch-trees. "

Oh, but this is such a classical example of clicheed poshlust!
Just add some troika sleighs and vodka shots...

Just for fun, I searched now to find a single birch in the urbanite Dostoyevsky - and sure enough, in part I of "Brothers Karamazov" Fyodor Pavlovich declares "The strength of Russia is in the birch" - but what he means are "rozgi", i.e. birch rods used for a popular corporal punishment (children as well as adults!).
These were known also as "birch porridge" ("berezovaya kasha").
I bet Dostoyevsky had little use for sparkling snow either.

Alpine landscapes in VN are similar to his childhood's landscapes near St Petersburg not only because of their snow, but also because both include conifer (fir) forest as main part of vegetation (what we call landscape-forming species).
In northern Russia, such vegetation is "zonal" (latitudinal) but in more southern areas it is found only as an atitudinal zone ("belt") in the mountains, such as Alps and Rockies, roughly starting from 1500-2000 m. But I do not think there are any nostalgic birches in this picture.

Victor Fet

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