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Birthday poster (The cradle rocks above an abyss)
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[EDNOTE. See the original collage that accompanies this posting as a gift from Jansy Mello to fellow subscribers of NABOKV-L.]
Some say that "IF" (not IPH) lies in the middle of "LIFE," while others
maintain that death directs us onto a "second life," an event that should
be accepted as being more important than birth. In any case both visions
apply solely to the individual who holds them. A birthday celebration, such
as ours for Vladimir Nabokov, arises from a joint and grateful homage for
the richness and joy he brought into our lives with his writings. It is also
a public acknowledgement of the importance of this author's social persona,
whose beginings we can locate on April 23, 1899.
I selected as a theme for a pictorial presentation Nabokov's opening lines
in the first chapter of Speak Memory: "The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness. Although the two are identical twins, man, as a rule, views
the prenatal abyss with more calm than the one he is heading for" (SM,19).
Although I tried to avoid using too many words when creating the poster I
would like to acknowledge the sources for the pictures: Jane Grayson, "Vladimir Nabokov" ( Penguin books; Illustrated lives, 2001); Ellendea Proffer (org.), "Vladímir Nabokov, uma fotobiografia" (Ars Poetica,1994), the Brazilian edition of "Vladimir Nabokov: A Pictorial Biography" (Ardis, 1991); Vladimir Nabokov, "Speak, Memory: An Autobiography Revisited (copied from Editora Schwarcz, "A Pessoa em Questão" 1994 edition) and Andrew Field, "The Life and Art of Vladimir Nabokov" (Crown, 1986).
Jansy
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
Some say that "IF" (not IPH) lies in the middle of "LIFE," while others
maintain that death directs us onto a "second life," an event that should
be accepted as being more important than birth. In any case both visions
apply solely to the individual who holds them. A birthday celebration, such
as ours for Vladimir Nabokov, arises from a joint and grateful homage for
the richness and joy he brought into our lives with his writings. It is also
a public acknowledgement of the importance of this author's social persona,
whose beginings we can locate on April 23, 1899.
I selected as a theme for a pictorial presentation Nabokov's opening lines
in the first chapter of Speak Memory: "The cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness. Although the two are identical twins, man, as a rule, views
the prenatal abyss with more calm than the one he is heading for" (SM,19).
Although I tried to avoid using too many words when creating the poster I
would like to acknowledge the sources for the pictures: Jane Grayson, "Vladimir Nabokov" ( Penguin books; Illustrated lives, 2001); Ellendea Proffer (org.), "Vladímir Nabokov, uma fotobiografia" (Ars Poetica,1994), the Brazilian edition of "Vladimir Nabokov: A Pictorial Biography" (Ardis, 1991); Vladimir Nabokov, "Speak, Memory: An Autobiography Revisited (copied from Editora Schwarcz, "A Pessoa em Questão" 1994 edition) and Andrew Field, "The Life and Art of Vladimir Nabokov" (Crown, 1986).
Jansy
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
