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New England or Virginia?
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Thanks to Don Johnson for putting all the geographical info in
one spot. One note: if New Wye is on the 38th parallel and
Baltimore is on the 39th, wouldn't that put New Wye SOUTH of
Baltimore (even a little south of Washington), since the farther
south, the lower the latitude?
Actually, if we discount the "New Wye in New England" remark,
all the rest of the info would seem to comfortably fit with
a location somewhere in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mts--
part of the Appalachian chain--of Virginia, yes?
So, how might we account for the New England remark? One clue
might be to look at the larger passage. Odon has just given
King Charles a ride to the foot of Mt Mandevil:
"He would, he said, lead them a merry chase, assume sensational
disguises, and get into touch with the rest of the gang. His
mother was an American, from New Wye in New England. She is said
to have been the first woman in the world to shoot wolves, and,
I believe, other animals, from an airplane." C.149
The "he said" in the first sentence tells us that Kinbote is
summarizing Odon's remarks, even giving us a few notes--"lead
them a merry chase" & "the rest of the gang"--of Odon's voice.
Might it not follow, then, that the info about his mother is
also part of this summary, thus making the mistake Odon's, not
Kinbote's? The last sentence, however, with its "I believe,"
would surely appear to be Kinbote's voice alone. So the middle
sentence is something of a hinge between Odon's voice and
Kinbote's voice, which makes it hard to place.
All of this, of course, forgets that Odon is a figment of
Kinbote's imagination, thus placing the whole shebang back
inside Kinbote's demesne. Sigh.
Matt Roth
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one spot. One note: if New Wye is on the 38th parallel and
Baltimore is on the 39th, wouldn't that put New Wye SOUTH of
Baltimore (even a little south of Washington), since the farther
south, the lower the latitude?
Actually, if we discount the "New Wye in New England" remark,
all the rest of the info would seem to comfortably fit with
a location somewhere in the foothills of the Blue Ridge Mts--
part of the Appalachian chain--of Virginia, yes?
So, how might we account for the New England remark? One clue
might be to look at the larger passage. Odon has just given
King Charles a ride to the foot of Mt Mandevil:
"He would, he said, lead them a merry chase, assume sensational
disguises, and get into touch with the rest of the gang. His
mother was an American, from New Wye in New England. She is said
to have been the first woman in the world to shoot wolves, and,
I believe, other animals, from an airplane." C.149
The "he said" in the first sentence tells us that Kinbote is
summarizing Odon's remarks, even giving us a few notes--"lead
them a merry chase" & "the rest of the gang"--of Odon's voice.
Might it not follow, then, that the info about his mother is
also part of this summary, thus making the mistake Odon's, not
Kinbote's? The last sentence, however, with its "I believe,"
would surely appear to be Kinbote's voice alone. So the middle
sentence is something of a hinge between Odon's voice and
Kinbote's voice, which makes it hard to place.
All of this, of course, forgets that Odon is a figment of
Kinbote's imagination, thus placing the whole shebang back
inside Kinbote's demesne. Sigh.
Matt Roth
Search the archive: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/archives/nabokv-l.html
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