Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0010990, Mon, 31 Jan 2005 08:51:27 -0800

Subject
Fwd: Re: QUERY: puzzle in Laughter in the Dark
Date
Body


As a newcomer to Listserv, I hope I am responding appropriately to the
generous and informative comments from Mary Bellino and AB:

Thank you, I will investigate the McFarland and Appel references, and
will read Pnin. It does seem that cinema is far more on VN's mind than
painting in Laughter. Perhaps it is to demonstrate his shallow
engagement with art that the critic Albinus seeks to turn great
painting into cartoons; and in doing so, helps to turn his own life
into a kind of cheap melodrama. But I can't help thinking the specific
arrangement of the room is important (why else hide the gun under the
body?), and that the tableau vivant idea, in some transmogrified way,
is at the center of it all.

David Brody

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