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Re: Date palms and Daedalian plans (VN's comments on PF)
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Date
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Dieter Zimmer wrote:
> If you think it was a mistake to place a date palm in New Wye's
> Shakespeare
> Alley, please don't forget that it is Kinbote who lists some of the
> trees
> supposed to be growing there, and that he is ignorant in matters of
> nature.
> I suppose quite a few of Shakespeare's trees would not exactly
prosper
> in Appalachia.
Since the comment about date palms was mine originally (though
Matthew Roth brought it up again), I thank you for responding.
Are you suggesting above that Kinbote invented the famous
avenue and didn't think it through? I've certainly wondered
whether he invented it based on the list in his pocketbook
(n. 172)--which also might have led him to invent at least part
of the dialogue with Shade where Kinbote quotes Augustine (n.
549).
I incline to think that the palm was not a mistake, but
rather a clue that Kinbote invents even New Wye material.
The connections of the "phoenix" to the themes of the afterlife
and red-and-green suggest that it might be more important than
it looks. (Or not.)
> On the other hand, in some cases potting might help. They
> may take the palm into a greenhouse in winter.
I hadn't thought of that. It would be a big project, assuming
the palm is tall enough for that photogenic "colonnade",
and designing the avenue to look good both with and without a
potted palm would be challenging. (Maybe that's why it
needed a landscaper of genius?)
Another objection I have to that possibility is that I find it
hard to imagine Kinbote failing to toss in the bit of
information that the date palm spent the winter in shelter,
and even harder to imagine him failing to describe a
greenhouse, given the chance. All that reflective glass,
all those rectangular images of pieces of the tree. But
that doesn't prove anything.
> Taking the opportunity, I quote from an uncollected and for this
reason
> little known Nabokov interview which might be of interest also in
other
> respects when discussing 'Pale Fire':
Thank you very much!
> "I think it is a perfectly straightforward novel. The clearest
> revelation of
> personality is to be found in the creative work in which a given
> individual
> indulges. Here the poet is revealed by his poetry; the commentator
by
> his
> commentary. ['Pale Fire'] is jollier than the other [novels], and it
is
> full
> of plums that I keep hoping somebody will find. For instance, the
nasty
> commentator is not an ex-King of Zembla nor is he professor Kinbote.
He
> is
> professor Botkin, or Botkine, a Russian and a madman. His commentary
has
> a
> number of notes dealing with entomology, ornithology, and botany. The
> reviewers have said that I worked my favorite subjects into this
novel.
> What
> they have not discovered is that Botkin knows nothing about them,
and
> all
> his notes are frightfully erroneous.... No onehas noted that my
> commentator
> committed suicide before completing the index to the book.... The
last
> entry
> has no numbered reference.... And even Mary McCarthy, who has
discovered
>
> more of the books than most of its critics, had some difficulty in
> locating
> the source of its title, and made the mistake of searching for it in
> Shakespeare's 'The Tempest.' It is from 'Timon of Athens.' The moon's
an
>
> arrant thief, she snatches her he pale fire from the sun. I hope that
> pointing out these things will perhaps help the reader to enjoy my
novel
> better." ('The New York Herald Tribune,' American edition, 17 June
1962,
>
> p.5, interviewer Maurice Dolbier.)
Can I ask you to give the headline? I'd like to quote the Botkin
sentence at Wikipedia.
I assume "straightforward" is Nabokov's joke.
Also that "all his notes are frightfully erroneous" is an
exaggeration. All he says about the shagbark is that it's a
hickory, which is perfectly true. Are his comments on the
Red Admiral (n. 270) erroneous?
"Jollier" is very interesting. For me, the jolly part of the
book is seeing through Kinbote's delusions and deceptions.
The other Nabokov books I've read didn't have that superficial
appeal that kept me looking for depths.
> I am definitely not one of those who maintain that the author's
> intentions
> and opinions don't count. In the case of 'Pale Fire' I believe we
just
> can't
> afford to discount them, or otherwise we will be lost forever in its
> Daedalian plan.
I agree with you. (At least, the author's intentions count for me).
But I feel sure there's more to the novel's essence than the
straighforward revelation of two personalities. Otherworldliness,
for instance.
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
> If you think it was a mistake to place a date palm in New Wye's
> Shakespeare
> Alley, please don't forget that it is Kinbote who lists some of the
> trees
> supposed to be growing there, and that he is ignorant in matters of
> nature.
> I suppose quite a few of Shakespeare's trees would not exactly
prosper
> in Appalachia.
Since the comment about date palms was mine originally (though
Matthew Roth brought it up again), I thank you for responding.
Are you suggesting above that Kinbote invented the famous
avenue and didn't think it through? I've certainly wondered
whether he invented it based on the list in his pocketbook
(n. 172)--which also might have led him to invent at least part
of the dialogue with Shade where Kinbote quotes Augustine (n.
549).
I incline to think that the palm was not a mistake, but
rather a clue that Kinbote invents even New Wye material.
The connections of the "phoenix" to the themes of the afterlife
and red-and-green suggest that it might be more important than
it looks. (Or not.)
> On the other hand, in some cases potting might help. They
> may take the palm into a greenhouse in winter.
I hadn't thought of that. It would be a big project, assuming
the palm is tall enough for that photogenic "colonnade",
and designing the avenue to look good both with and without a
potted palm would be challenging. (Maybe that's why it
needed a landscaper of genius?)
Another objection I have to that possibility is that I find it
hard to imagine Kinbote failing to toss in the bit of
information that the date palm spent the winter in shelter,
and even harder to imagine him failing to describe a
greenhouse, given the chance. All that reflective glass,
all those rectangular images of pieces of the tree. But
that doesn't prove anything.
> Taking the opportunity, I quote from an uncollected and for this
reason
> little known Nabokov interview which might be of interest also in
other
> respects when discussing 'Pale Fire':
Thank you very much!
> "I think it is a perfectly straightforward novel. The clearest
> revelation of
> personality is to be found in the creative work in which a given
> individual
> indulges. Here the poet is revealed by his poetry; the commentator
by
> his
> commentary. ['Pale Fire'] is jollier than the other [novels], and it
is
> full
> of plums that I keep hoping somebody will find. For instance, the
nasty
> commentator is not an ex-King of Zembla nor is he professor Kinbote.
He
> is
> professor Botkin, or Botkine, a Russian and a madman. His commentary
has
> a
> number of notes dealing with entomology, ornithology, and botany. The
> reviewers have said that I worked my favorite subjects into this
novel.
> What
> they have not discovered is that Botkin knows nothing about them,
and
> all
> his notes are frightfully erroneous.... No onehas noted that my
> commentator
> committed suicide before completing the index to the book.... The
last
> entry
> has no numbered reference.... And even Mary McCarthy, who has
discovered
>
> more of the books than most of its critics, had some difficulty in
> locating
> the source of its title, and made the mistake of searching for it in
> Shakespeare's 'The Tempest.' It is from 'Timon of Athens.' The moon's
an
>
> arrant thief, she snatches her he pale fire from the sun. I hope that
> pointing out these things will perhaps help the reader to enjoy my
novel
> better." ('The New York Herald Tribune,' American edition, 17 June
1962,
>
> p.5, interviewer Maurice Dolbier.)
Can I ask you to give the headline? I'd like to quote the Botkin
sentence at Wikipedia.
I assume "straightforward" is Nabokov's joke.
Also that "all his notes are frightfully erroneous" is an
exaggeration. All he says about the shagbark is that it's a
hickory, which is perfectly true. Are his comments on the
Red Admiral (n. 270) erroneous?
"Jollier" is very interesting. For me, the jolly part of the
book is seeing through Kinbote's delusions and deceptions.
The other Nabokov books I've read didn't have that superficial
appeal that kept me looking for depths.
> I am definitely not one of those who maintain that the author's
> intentions
> and opinions don't count. In the case of 'Pale Fire' I believe we
just
> can't
> afford to discount them, or otherwise we will be lost forever in its
> Daedalian plan.
I agree with you. (At least, the author's intentions count for me).
But I feel sure there's more to the novel's essence than the
straighforward revelation of two personalities. Otherworldliness,
for instance.
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