Subject
German Lolita
From
Date
Body
----- Original Message -----
From: <gshiman@optonline.net>
To: "Vladimir Nabokov Forum" <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (90
lines) ------------------
> > But how can this be taken seriously enough to create such a fuss,
> > that´s the real mistery.
>
> I can offer an answer: poschlost in 'academic' circles.
> It gives fuss-makers fast gratification of their name recognition.
> After all putting this 'discovery' through professional channels would not
achieve either.
>
> George Shimanovich
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "D. Barton Johnson" <chtodel@cox.net>
> Date: Sunday, April 25, 2004 10:14 pm
> Subject: Fw: Fw: Fw: Fw: Fw: Translation of German Lolita -- page 3 of 4
>
> > Re: Fw: Fw: Fw: Translation of German Lolita -- page 3 of
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Jansy Berndt de Souza Mello
> > To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum
> > Sent: Sunday, April 25, 2004 6:48 PM
> > Subject: Re: Fw: Fw: Fw: Fw: Translation of German Lolita -- page
> > 3 of 4
> >
> >
> > Walter Miale was wondering why riding a swan to impress a girl
> > would be "more poshlustich" than any other stunt. In the opera,
> > the knight in shining armor arrives in a swan in order to save his
> > girl but, before he could even ride her, was forced to leave.
> > That´s why it now seems to me that this reference to swan and
> > impressionable girls might not be related to the opera. Still, the
> > joke concerning Wagner´s "Lohengrin" appeared in a novel that
> > takes place in Germany.
> > There´s, of course, Tchaikovski´s " Swan Lake".
> > And yet, it was Walter Miale, not Nabokov, who introduced a swan
> > at this point. Besides, Von Lichberg´s story suggests that it was
> > the girl who impressed the older guy and not he who tried a stunt
> > to get her.
> > Anyway, I cannot figure out what connects this poorly written
> > short-story to V.N. There´s the theme of the "doubles" ( the
> > twins) and there are doors that transport the narrator from one
> > reality to another. There´s even a young girl named Lolita! But
> > how can this be taken seriously enough to create such a fuss,
> > that´s the real mistery.
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Walter Miale
> > To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum
> > Sent: Sunday, April 25, 2004 4:40 PM
> > Subject: Re: Fw: Fw: Fw: Translation of German Lolita -- page 3
> > of 4
> >
> >
> > ...."the prelude to the adventure of riding the swan..."
> >
> > What does this mean?
> >
> >
> > EDNOTE. A good question. The faint bells it tinkles for me
> > are: 1) I think VN in his GOGOL book uses the swan shtick as an an
> > example of "poshlost'
> >
> >
> > Yes, that's it.
> >
> >
> > Actually, I have never quite understood why hitching a ride on a
> > swan to impress a girl is any more poshlustish than any other
> > foolish daredevil stunt. . . (Would someone please tell me why
> > this story so epitomizes poshlust.)
> >
> >
> > There is a joke about catching the next swan ( Lohengrin ) in
> > "Laughter in the Dark"
> >
> >
> > Yes, the image in Gogol, like the new text, does have the ring
> > of grand German opera: "And since that time a curse lies on the
> > family. The women all give birth to a daughter, and within weeks
> > of their child's birth, they always go mad. . . ." But perhaps
> > Nabokov did not steal the image from Lichberg; a closer reading of
> > the texts suggests it could have been planted in him by a ghost.
> >
> >
> > Unfortunately (speaking of "a closer reading"), I see Nabokov
> > attributes the story to Gogol himself, but I'll hang on to my
> > notions like a crackpot.
> >
> >
> > Walter Miale
>
From: <gshiman@optonline.net>
To: "Vladimir Nabokov Forum" <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (90
lines) ------------------
> > But how can this be taken seriously enough to create such a fuss,
> > that´s the real mistery.
>
> I can offer an answer: poschlost in 'academic' circles.
> It gives fuss-makers fast gratification of their name recognition.
> After all putting this 'discovery' through professional channels would not
achieve either.
>
> George Shimanovich
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "D. Barton Johnson" <chtodel@cox.net>
> Date: Sunday, April 25, 2004 10:14 pm
> Subject: Fw: Fw: Fw: Fw: Fw: Translation of German Lolita -- page 3 of 4
>
> > Re: Fw: Fw: Fw: Translation of German Lolita -- page 3 of
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Jansy Berndt de Souza Mello
> > To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum
> > Sent: Sunday, April 25, 2004 6:48 PM
> > Subject: Re: Fw: Fw: Fw: Fw: Translation of German Lolita -- page
> > 3 of 4
> >
> >
> > Walter Miale was wondering why riding a swan to impress a girl
> > would be "more poshlustich" than any other stunt. In the opera,
> > the knight in shining armor arrives in a swan in order to save his
> > girl but, before he could even ride her, was forced to leave.
> > That´s why it now seems to me that this reference to swan and
> > impressionable girls might not be related to the opera. Still, the
> > joke concerning Wagner´s "Lohengrin" appeared in a novel that
> > takes place in Germany.
> > There´s, of course, Tchaikovski´s " Swan Lake".
> > And yet, it was Walter Miale, not Nabokov, who introduced a swan
> > at this point. Besides, Von Lichberg´s story suggests that it was
> > the girl who impressed the older guy and not he who tried a stunt
> > to get her.
> > Anyway, I cannot figure out what connects this poorly written
> > short-story to V.N. There´s the theme of the "doubles" ( the
> > twins) and there are doors that transport the narrator from one
> > reality to another. There´s even a young girl named Lolita! But
> > how can this be taken seriously enough to create such a fuss,
> > that´s the real mistery.
> >
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Walter Miale
> > To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum
> > Sent: Sunday, April 25, 2004 4:40 PM
> > Subject: Re: Fw: Fw: Fw: Translation of German Lolita -- page 3
> > of 4
> >
> >
> > ...."the prelude to the adventure of riding the swan..."
> >
> > What does this mean?
> >
> >
> > EDNOTE. A good question. The faint bells it tinkles for me
> > are: 1) I think VN in his GOGOL book uses the swan shtick as an an
> > example of "poshlost'
> >
> >
> > Yes, that's it.
> >
> >
> > Actually, I have never quite understood why hitching a ride on a
> > swan to impress a girl is any more poshlustish than any other
> > foolish daredevil stunt. . . (Would someone please tell me why
> > this story so epitomizes poshlust.)
> >
> >
> > There is a joke about catching the next swan ( Lohengrin ) in
> > "Laughter in the Dark"
> >
> >
> > Yes, the image in Gogol, like the new text, does have the ring
> > of grand German opera: "And since that time a curse lies on the
> > family. The women all give birth to a daughter, and within weeks
> > of their child's birth, they always go mad. . . ." But perhaps
> > Nabokov did not steal the image from Lichberg; a closer reading of
> > the texts suggests it could have been planted in him by a ghost.
> >
> >
> > Unfortunately (speaking of "a closer reading"), I see Nabokov
> > attributes the story to Gogol himself, but I'll hang on to my
> > notions like a crackpot.
> >
> >
> > Walter Miale
>