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Fw: Fw: Fw: Fw: Fw: Translation of German Lolita -- page 3 of 4
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Re: Fw: Fw: Fw: Translation of German Lolita -- page 3 of
----- Original Message -----
From: alex
To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum
Sent: Monday, April 26, 2004 2:19 AM
Subject: Re: Fw: Fw: Fw: Fw: Translation of German Lolita -- page 3 of 4
Unfortunately (speaking of "a closer reading"), I see Nabokov attributes the story to Gogol himself
Dear Walter Miale,
Nabokov doesn't "attribute" the story to Gogol. He faithfully quotes a passage from L. I. Arnoldi's reminiscences "Moyo znakomstvo s Gogolem" (My Acquaintanceship with Gogol), first published in Russkiy Vestnik in 1862.
Why this story about swimming with two swans epitomizes "poshlost" cannot be explained I'm afraid. It can only be felt.
Alexey Sklyarenko
----- Original Message -----
From: D. Barton Johnson
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Sent: Monday, April 26, 2004 3:50 AM
Subject: Fw: Fw: Fw: Fw: Translation of German Lolita -- page 3 of 4
----- 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.
, but I'll hang on to my notions like a crackpot.
Walter Miale
----- Original Message -----
From: alex
To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum
Sent: Monday, April 26, 2004 2:19 AM
Subject: Re: Fw: Fw: Fw: Fw: Translation of German Lolita -- page 3 of 4
Unfortunately (speaking of "a closer reading"), I see Nabokov attributes the story to Gogol himself
Dear Walter Miale,
Nabokov doesn't "attribute" the story to Gogol. He faithfully quotes a passage from L. I. Arnoldi's reminiscences "Moyo znakomstvo s Gogolem" (My Acquaintanceship with Gogol), first published in Russkiy Vestnik in 1862.
Why this story about swimming with two swans epitomizes "poshlost" cannot be explained I'm afraid. It can only be felt.
Alexey Sklyarenko
----- Original Message -----
From: D. Barton Johnson
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Sent: Monday, April 26, 2004 3:50 AM
Subject: Fw: Fw: Fw: Fw: Translation of German Lolita -- page 3 of 4
----- 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.
, but I'll hang on to my notions like a crackpot.
Walter Miale