Subject
Fw: VN & The Germans
From
Date
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----- Original Message -----
From: <gshiman@optonline.net>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (68
lines) ------------------
> Since Mr. Fak brought this to the Forum permit me to ask:
>
> Were concentration camps nuanced or broad-handed?
> To me carnage caused by German nation validates a lot of opinions,
incuding Nabokov's.
>
> I have a relative, elderly woman, who still cannot stand hearing spoken
German - given nuance of her Father being shot to death in their living room
while she (16 years old) was hiding under the mattress. Is she broad-handed?
>
> And look at the carnage caused by other, more modern nation.
>
> Danke,
>
> George Shimanovich
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "D. Barton Johnson" <chtodel@cox.net>
> Date: Friday, May 14, 2004 1:12 pm
> Subject: VN & The Germans
>
> > EDNOTE. I was about to suggest that VN's distaste for Germans was not
> > unconnected with the death of his brother Sergey in a Nazi camp. On
> > reflection I realized that the Gogol book was written before VN
> > learned of
> > Sergey's fate. Note well that Nabokov's father was a prominent
> > figure in the
> > struggle against Russian anti-Semitism. Nazi anti-Semitism was an
> > importantfactor in the Nabokovs' departure from Germany and
> > doubtless added to his
> > dislike of Germans. There are several articles on the Nabokov &
> > the Germans.
> > On the other hand, Fyodor in DAR (The Gift) ruefully laughs at
> > himself for
> > disliking a German on a streetcar who proves to be Russian.
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Alex Fak" <afak@imedia.ru>
> >
> > > ----------------- Message requiring your approval (26
> > lines) ------------------
> > > By the way, is anyone else puzzled by VN's generalized
> > description of
> > > Germany and the Germans in "Nikolai Gogol"? I'm not sure if he's
> > also> written about it elsewhere. It is interesting that someone
> > who once
> > > derided Dostoyevsky for appearing to mock all Poles, Jews and
> > Germans> is also the same person who peppered the "poshlust"
> > section of
> > > Gogol's biography with digs at a whole nation. Does anyone know if
> > > there is a logic behind this apparent contradiction?
> > >
> > > Not to mention that the remarks about wishing Germany destroyed to
> > > the last beer mug and edelweiss (if I recall correctly) appear
> > > somewhat broad-handed for such a nuanced writer.
> > >
> > > Sorry if this has been chewed upon already (I was awol for a few
> > months).>
> > > Alex.
> > >
> > > --
> > > Alex Fak
> > > Business Reporter
> > > The Moscow Times
> > > tel: +7 095 937 3399 ext. 193
> > > fax: +7 095 937 3393/94
> > >
> > > www.themoscowtimes.com
> > >
> > >
> >
>
From: <gshiman@optonline.net>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (68
lines) ------------------
> Since Mr. Fak brought this to the Forum permit me to ask:
>
> Were concentration camps nuanced or broad-handed?
> To me carnage caused by German nation validates a lot of opinions,
incuding Nabokov's.
>
> I have a relative, elderly woman, who still cannot stand hearing spoken
German - given nuance of her Father being shot to death in their living room
while she (16 years old) was hiding under the mattress. Is she broad-handed?
>
> And look at the carnage caused by other, more modern nation.
>
> Danke,
>
> George Shimanovich
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "D. Barton Johnson" <chtodel@cox.net>
> Date: Friday, May 14, 2004 1:12 pm
> Subject: VN & The Germans
>
> > EDNOTE. I was about to suggest that VN's distaste for Germans was not
> > unconnected with the death of his brother Sergey in a Nazi camp. On
> > reflection I realized that the Gogol book was written before VN
> > learned of
> > Sergey's fate. Note well that Nabokov's father was a prominent
> > figure in the
> > struggle against Russian anti-Semitism. Nazi anti-Semitism was an
> > importantfactor in the Nabokovs' departure from Germany and
> > doubtless added to his
> > dislike of Germans. There are several articles on the Nabokov &
> > the Germans.
> > On the other hand, Fyodor in DAR (The Gift) ruefully laughs at
> > himself for
> > disliking a German on a streetcar who proves to be Russian.
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Alex Fak" <afak@imedia.ru>
> >
> > > ----------------- Message requiring your approval (26
> > lines) ------------------
> > > By the way, is anyone else puzzled by VN's generalized
> > description of
> > > Germany and the Germans in "Nikolai Gogol"? I'm not sure if he's
> > also> written about it elsewhere. It is interesting that someone
> > who once
> > > derided Dostoyevsky for appearing to mock all Poles, Jews and
> > Germans> is also the same person who peppered the "poshlust"
> > section of
> > > Gogol's biography with digs at a whole nation. Does anyone know if
> > > there is a logic behind this apparent contradiction?
> > >
> > > Not to mention that the remarks about wishing Germany destroyed to
> > > the last beer mug and edelweiss (if I recall correctly) appear
> > > somewhat broad-handed for such a nuanced writer.
> > >
> > > Sorry if this has been chewed upon already (I was awol for a few
> > months).>
> > > Alex.
> > >
> > > --
> > > Alex Fak
> > > Business Reporter
> > > The Moscow Times
> > > tel: +7 095 937 3399 ext. 193
> > > fax: +7 095 937 3393/94
> > >
> > > www.themoscowtimes.com
> > >
> > >
> >
>