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Re: FWD: TT-9 - echoe in TT-19
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------------------ I was also pondering the reappearing clashing particle,
as well as various other articles from Chapter 9 that seem to resurface in
19. There is the Belgian artist (Armande's father, an architect) reshaped
as the clamorous Belgian sculptor upstairs, as well as, perhaps, Paul Plam
(also Belgian ?) and the obese Pauline. Then we have R.'s latest books --
Figures in a Golden Window in 9, Tralatitions in 19; the former quickly
reviewed by HP for Armande, the latter being proofread by HP. A cute
coincidence, indeed. Besides (this is a stretch), "rimiform" probably
suggests the "grain de beaute'" from the last lines of 9, and "all the gold
of a kew tree" and "a dappled nebris" are reminiscent of the "lovely wake
of the sun through semitransparent black fabric". In any case, it is
significant that R's description of Julia in the "bawdy passage" is
evocative of HP's description of Armande in the other bawdy passage, the
one from HP's diary - this is a theme that culminates with HP dreaming of
Julia as he "rescues" Armande.
Curiously, Armande and HP return to reading their respective books on
their last evening together; this is almost a mirror reflection of the
"banal mechanism" of their acquaintance on the train in Ch. 9. I wonder if
the yawning that, according to Armande, "sidetracks sleep" is a vague echo
of the train theme -- it's as if HP and Armande in Ch.19 are on a carriage
that is moving inexorably toward the fateful "sleep" of Ch.20.
This re-evocation and reshaping of various items across chapters is very
Nabokovian, and reminiscent of the "circular" chapters in Pnin.
Misha
On Thu, 5 Aug 2004, D. Barton Johnson wrote:
> ------------------ A schoolboy's insane desire and a romantic tumult never
> felt previously. Armande Chamar. LA PARTICULE AURAIT JURE' AVEC LA
> DERNI`ERE SYLLABE DO MON PRE'NOM
>
> The virtually throw-away nature of the italicized insertion -- Le
> particule aurait jure' avec la derni`ere syllabe de mon pre'nom. -- makes
> me a bit suspicious, as does the combination of de with jurer. Lets
> remember the otherworldliness wafting with italics here -- (When WE
> concentrate on a material object; on the printed page the words "likely"
> and "actually" should be italicized too, at least SLIGHTLY, to indicate
> a SLIGHT breath of wind inclining those characters) -- more than French
> may be at stake here. (A very interesting article dealing in part w.
> italics in PF by James Ramey has just appeared in Comparative Literature
> Studies; I hope the full citation can be posted soon). The notion of a
> noble particule appears later in the text with direct reference to VN:
> on page 75 (ch.19), in the midst of a bawdy passage -- "He queried the
> middle word in the name of an incidental character "Adam von Librikov"
> because the German particle seemed to clash with the rest; or was the
> entire combination a sly scramble?" It seems to me possible that
> "jurer" here is functioning as a pun, i.e. "the particle would have
> clashed/sworn/cursed with the last syllable of my first name". A
> riddling statement from the author? This works better, of course, with
> the English pronunciation of the name than with the French. A juron
> that goes back to its original meaning by invoking the name of God?
> Vladi-merde! that would be indeed taking the Lord's name in vain -- as
> well as reading with a schoolboy's in(s)ane interpretive desire.
> Eric
>
>
> ---------- End Forwarded Message ----------
>
>
>
> D. Barton Johnson
> NABOKV-L
>
---------- End Forwarded Message ----------
D. Barton Johnson
NABOKV-L
as well as various other articles from Chapter 9 that seem to resurface in
19. There is the Belgian artist (Armande's father, an architect) reshaped
as the clamorous Belgian sculptor upstairs, as well as, perhaps, Paul Plam
(also Belgian ?) and the obese Pauline. Then we have R.'s latest books --
Figures in a Golden Window in 9, Tralatitions in 19; the former quickly
reviewed by HP for Armande, the latter being proofread by HP. A cute
coincidence, indeed. Besides (this is a stretch), "rimiform" probably
suggests the "grain de beaute'" from the last lines of 9, and "all the gold
of a kew tree" and "a dappled nebris" are reminiscent of the "lovely wake
of the sun through semitransparent black fabric". In any case, it is
significant that R's description of Julia in the "bawdy passage" is
evocative of HP's description of Armande in the other bawdy passage, the
one from HP's diary - this is a theme that culminates with HP dreaming of
Julia as he "rescues" Armande.
Curiously, Armande and HP return to reading their respective books on
their last evening together; this is almost a mirror reflection of the
"banal mechanism" of their acquaintance on the train in Ch. 9. I wonder if
the yawning that, according to Armande, "sidetracks sleep" is a vague echo
of the train theme -- it's as if HP and Armande in Ch.19 are on a carriage
that is moving inexorably toward the fateful "sleep" of Ch.20.
This re-evocation and reshaping of various items across chapters is very
Nabokovian, and reminiscent of the "circular" chapters in Pnin.
Misha
On Thu, 5 Aug 2004, D. Barton Johnson wrote:
> ------------------ A schoolboy's insane desire and a romantic tumult never
> felt previously. Armande Chamar. LA PARTICULE AURAIT JURE' AVEC LA
> DERNI`ERE SYLLABE DO MON PRE'NOM
>
> The virtually throw-away nature of the italicized insertion -- Le
> particule aurait jure' avec la derni`ere syllabe de mon pre'nom. -- makes
> me a bit suspicious, as does the combination of de with jurer. Lets
> remember the otherworldliness wafting with italics here -- (When WE
> concentrate on a material object; on the printed page the words "likely"
> and "actually" should be italicized too, at least SLIGHTLY, to indicate
> a SLIGHT breath of wind inclining those characters) -- more than French
> may be at stake here. (A very interesting article dealing in part w.
> italics in PF by James Ramey has just appeared in Comparative Literature
> Studies; I hope the full citation can be posted soon). The notion of a
> noble particule appears later in the text with direct reference to VN:
> on page 75 (ch.19), in the midst of a bawdy passage -- "He queried the
> middle word in the name of an incidental character "Adam von Librikov"
> because the German particle seemed to clash with the rest; or was the
> entire combination a sly scramble?" It seems to me possible that
> "jurer" here is functioning as a pun, i.e. "the particle would have
> clashed/sworn/cursed with the last syllable of my first name". A
> riddling statement from the author? This works better, of course, with
> the English pronunciation of the name than with the French. A juron
> that goes back to its original meaning by invoking the name of God?
> Vladi-merde! that would be indeed taking the Lord's name in vain -- as
> well as reading with a schoolboy's in(s)ane interpretive desire.
> Eric
>
>
> ---------- End Forwarded Message ----------
>
>
>
> D. Barton Johnson
> NABOKV-L
>
---------- End Forwarded Message ----------
D. Barton Johnson
NABOKV-L