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Fw: Nabokov references in Pelevin (fwd)
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----- Original Message -----
From: Sergey Karpukhin
To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum
Sent: Saturday, October 25, 2003 2:14 PM
Subject: Nabokov references in Pelevin
Dear Nabokovians,
I leafed through the newly published book by the most prominent young
Russian writer Victor Pelevin. There is a short reference to Nabokov in his
novel Chisla (Numbers). The protagonist's anglophilia seemed "to establish
kinship between him and the Nabokovs of the Petersburg period, who were
happily splashing in rubber tubs in their granite house in Morskaya Street
while discussing in Oxford dialect the connection between a teenage
erection and Count Tolstoy's death". (The last phrase is an allusion to the
famous multilingual passage in Speak, Memory and Drugie berega.) Here is
the original:
"áÎÇÌÏÆÉÌÉÑ ËÁÚÁÌÁÓØ óÔÅÐÅ ÐÏÞÔÅÎÎÙÍ É ÄÁÖÅ × ÎÅËÏÔÏÒÏÍ ÓÍÙÓÌÅ ÐÁÔÒÉÏÔÉÞÎÙÍ
ËÕÌØÔÕÒÎÙÍ ÉÚÙÓËÏÍ -- ÏÎÁ ËÁË ÂÙ ÕÓÔÁÎÁ×ÌÉ×ÁÌÁ ÒÏÄÓÔ×Ï ÍÅÖÄÕ ÎÉÍ É
îÁÂÏËÏ×ÙÍÉ ÐÅÔÅÒÂÕÒÇÓËÏÇÏ ÐÅÒÉÏÄÁ, ËÏÔÏÒÙÅ ×ÅÓÅÌÏ ÐÌÅÓËÁÌÉÓØ × ÎÁÄÕ×ÎÙÈ
ÒÅÚÉÎÏ×ÙÈ ×ÁÎÎÁÈ × Ó×ÏÅÍ ÇÒÁÎÉÔÎÏÍ ÏÓÏÂÎÑËÅ ÎÁ íÏÒÓËÏÊ, ÏÂÓÕÖÄÁÑ ÎÁ
ÏËÓÆÏÒÄÓËÏÍ ÄÉÁÌÅËÔÅ Ó×ÑÚØ ÍÅÖÄÕ ÐÏÄÒÏÓÔËÏ×ÏÊ ÜÒÅËÃÉÅÊ É ÓÍÅÒÔØÀ ÇÒÁÆÁ
ôÏÌÓÔÏÇÏ."
I haven't read all of Pelevin's books, but I remember that in Chapayev i
Pustota there were references to the young Nabokov in the Crimea. I'm not
sure I'll be able to bring myself to actually read the book: the author's
indiscriminate use of pop culture realia is deplorable, and his strong
penchant for English clichés along with his more timorous attempts at
French make him almost unreadable, to my taste.
Best wishes,
Sergey Karpukhin
www.the-nr.irk.ru
---------- End Forwarded Message ----------
D. Barton Johnson
NABOKV-L
From: Sergey Karpukhin
To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum
Sent: Saturday, October 25, 2003 2:14 PM
Subject: Nabokov references in Pelevin
Dear Nabokovians,
I leafed through the newly published book by the most prominent young
Russian writer Victor Pelevin. There is a short reference to Nabokov in his
novel Chisla (Numbers). The protagonist's anglophilia seemed "to establish
kinship between him and the Nabokovs of the Petersburg period, who were
happily splashing in rubber tubs in their granite house in Morskaya Street
while discussing in Oxford dialect the connection between a teenage
erection and Count Tolstoy's death". (The last phrase is an allusion to the
famous multilingual passage in Speak, Memory and Drugie berega.) Here is
the original:
"áÎÇÌÏÆÉÌÉÑ ËÁÚÁÌÁÓØ óÔÅÐÅ ÐÏÞÔÅÎÎÙÍ É ÄÁÖÅ × ÎÅËÏÔÏÒÏÍ ÓÍÙÓÌÅ ÐÁÔÒÉÏÔÉÞÎÙÍ
ËÕÌØÔÕÒÎÙÍ ÉÚÙÓËÏÍ -- ÏÎÁ ËÁË ÂÙ ÕÓÔÁÎÁ×ÌÉ×ÁÌÁ ÒÏÄÓÔ×Ï ÍÅÖÄÕ ÎÉÍ É
îÁÂÏËÏ×ÙÍÉ ÐÅÔÅÒÂÕÒÇÓËÏÇÏ ÐÅÒÉÏÄÁ, ËÏÔÏÒÙÅ ×ÅÓÅÌÏ ÐÌÅÓËÁÌÉÓØ × ÎÁÄÕ×ÎÙÈ
ÒÅÚÉÎÏ×ÙÈ ×ÁÎÎÁÈ × Ó×ÏÅÍ ÇÒÁÎÉÔÎÏÍ ÏÓÏÂÎÑËÅ ÎÁ íÏÒÓËÏÊ, ÏÂÓÕÖÄÁÑ ÎÁ
ÏËÓÆÏÒÄÓËÏÍ ÄÉÁÌÅËÔÅ Ó×ÑÚØ ÍÅÖÄÕ ÐÏÄÒÏÓÔËÏ×ÏÊ ÜÒÅËÃÉÅÊ É ÓÍÅÒÔØÀ ÇÒÁÆÁ
ôÏÌÓÔÏÇÏ."
I haven't read all of Pelevin's books, but I remember that in Chapayev i
Pustota there were references to the young Nabokov in the Crimea. I'm not
sure I'll be able to bring myself to actually read the book: the author's
indiscriminate use of pop culture realia is deplorable, and his strong
penchant for English clichés along with his more timorous attempts at
French make him almost unreadable, to my taste.
Best wishes,
Sergey Karpukhin
www.the-nr.irk.ru
---------- End Forwarded Message ----------
D. Barton Johnson
NABOKV-L