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On symmetry and Kinbote
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--- Carolyn Kunin <chaiselongue@EARTHLINK.NET> wrote:
> As a general rule, is it not crucial not to fall for the symmetries
and
> circularities proposed by self-absorbed narcissists like Hermann and
> Kinbote? A large part of VN's challenge to the reader is not to be
> seduced
> by such unreliable (to put it absurdly mildly) narrators.
>
>
> Just a quick response to this part of Anthony Stadlen's post. One of
the
> interesting things about Kinbote (especially if he is Shade gone
insane
> as I
> beleive) is that he not only has many characteristics of Shade, but of
> Nabokov as well. It's interesting that he seems to ascribe the
symmetry
> of
> Pale Fire to Kinbote and not to Shade/Nabokov who actually of course
> composed the symmetrical butterfly-shaped poem. Kinbote's contribution
> do
> not strike me as showing any symmetry of form - - or am I missing
> something?
...
I'm not sure what sort of symmetry of form you're looking for.
Kinbote's contributions (I take it you mean more than just the
variant lines marked "K's contribution") include lots of obvious
mirror symmetry at the fine-grained level: Odon and Nodo, "redip,
spider," the Goldsworths' reversed sexes, etc. On the other
hand he decides to reveal that something in the poem--"between/
Goldsworth and Wordsmith"--is not as symmetrical as Shade allowed
it to look.
Kinbote also "collaborates" with Shade on one symmetry that I can
think of--the more or less hidden "cedars" at the end of the
Foreword, the first line of the poem, and the first note--and
there are probably others. But if you mean architectonic
symmetries such as the numbers of lines in Shade's cantos, I'm
missing any that are there just as much as you are.
Is there, for instance, a code in the variation in the Index
between "K.'s" (with a period) in roman type and "K's" and
"S's" in italics? I doubt it, but I just noticed it, so I
had to bring it up.
Jerry Friedman
Search the archive: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/archives/nabokv-l.html
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> As a general rule, is it not crucial not to fall for the symmetries
and
> circularities proposed by self-absorbed narcissists like Hermann and
> Kinbote? A large part of VN's challenge to the reader is not to be
> seduced
> by such unreliable (to put it absurdly mildly) narrators.
>
>
> Just a quick response to this part of Anthony Stadlen's post. One of
the
> interesting things about Kinbote (especially if he is Shade gone
insane
> as I
> beleive) is that he not only has many characteristics of Shade, but of
> Nabokov as well. It's interesting that he seems to ascribe the
symmetry
> of
> Pale Fire to Kinbote and not to Shade/Nabokov who actually of course
> composed the symmetrical butterfly-shaped poem. Kinbote's contribution
> do
> not strike me as showing any symmetry of form - - or am I missing
> something?
...
I'm not sure what sort of symmetry of form you're looking for.
Kinbote's contributions (I take it you mean more than just the
variant lines marked "K's contribution") include lots of obvious
mirror symmetry at the fine-grained level: Odon and Nodo, "redip,
spider," the Goldsworths' reversed sexes, etc. On the other
hand he decides to reveal that something in the poem--"between/
Goldsworth and Wordsmith"--is not as symmetrical as Shade allowed
it to look.
Kinbote also "collaborates" with Shade on one symmetry that I can
think of--the more or less hidden "cedars" at the end of the
Foreword, the first line of the poem, and the first note--and
there are probably others. But if you mean architectonic
symmetries such as the numbers of lines in Shade's cantos, I'm
missing any that are there just as much as you are.
Is there, for instance, a code in the variation in the Index
between "K.'s" (with a period) in roman type and "K's" and
"S's" in italics? I doubt it, but I just noticed it, so I
had to bring it up.
Jerry Friedman
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