Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0007150, Sun, 24 Nov 2002 20:18:34 -0800

Subject
Fw: caught at 22
Date
Body
----- Original Message -----
From: "Carolyn Kunin" <chaiselongue@earthlink.net>
To: "Vladimir Nabokov Forum" <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Sent: Saturday, November 23, 2002 10:16 PM
Subject: caught at 22


>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (41
lines) ------------------
> Dear Mr Moore,
>
> You may be right - after all PDQ considered himself J F Bach's 22nd son,
and
> he was pretty funny. As for Sorosa Hall, by the time I attended
university,
> campus life had changed considerably. I may have over-winked that one.
>
> Carolyn Kunin
>
>
>
>
> > Dear Ms. Kunin:
> >
> >
> >
> > I've been enjoying your game of tiddlywinks with one of my favorite
novels,
> > and would not be at all surprised if you someday locate the crown
jewels, but
> > in the meantime, I have to say I've never interpreted the two lines
above, as
> > you have, to suggest Shade had any intimate knowledge of the goings-on
at
> > Sorosa Hall. To me, VN was simply humorously evoking the frantic final
> > moments before a ball, co-eds flouncing up and down the stairs, dates
getting
> > made, hearts getting broken, etc. etc. The specificity of 'every two
minutes'
> > could suggest backstage knowledge, but since VN chooses to use an
indefinite
> > article, 'a', referring generally to all these balls, rather than 'the',
and
> > it's unlikely that at every ball the phone always rang every two
minutes, I
> > think it more likely VN simply chose a ! number he could live with, and
'two'
> > is often the funniest of the single digit numbers. (Which reminds me
that
> > Joseph Heller's first novel was originally titled 'Catch 18', but his
editor
> > had him change it to 'Catch 22', "because 22 is a funnier number").
> >
> >
> >
> > Best,
> >
> >
> >
> > Ralph Robert (Rob) Moore
> >
> > SENTENCE at http://www.ralphrobertmoore.com
>
>