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Re: Don Quixote, Nabokov, and Spanish (fwd)
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From: D. Barton Johnson <chtodel@cox.net>
Dear Mikhail Avrekh,
I'm sure VN would not have claimed to"know" Spanish. He did, however,
"lep" in Spain. Among his Wellesley friends was poet Jorge Guillen who
presented a signed copy of his _Cantico_ to his colleague and tennis
partner. See Boyd AY 87-88. VN includes a snippet from _Cantico_ in ADA.
Don Johnson
Original Message -----
From: "Galya Diment" <galya@u.washington.edu>
To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Sent: Wednesday, February 12, 2003 3:06 PM
Subject: Don Quixote, Nabokov, and Spanish (fwd)
> From: Mikhail Avrekh <mavrekh@lbl.gov>
>
> I seem to recall that VN indicated somewhere -- in some comment on
> "Lolita", I believe, where he expresses his bewilderment at what Spanish
translators may have
> done to the book, lacking his supervision -- his ignorance of Spanish. Yet
> to someone reading Nabokov's "Lectures on Don Quixote", it becomes
> clear that he had some knowledge of Spanish syntax, grammar, and
> etymology; certainly enough to elucidate the origins and the meanings of
> some words.
>
> I wonder whether he in fact knew some Spanish, or whether he consulted
> someone who did. I apologize if this has been discussed before; I've
> looked in "The American Years", but couldn't find any indications of where
> VN's knowledge of Spanish may have come from.
Dear Mikhail Avrekh,
I'm sure VN would not have claimed to"know" Spanish. He did, however,
"lep" in Spain. Among his Wellesley friends was poet Jorge Guillen who
presented a signed copy of his _Cantico_ to his colleague and tennis
partner. See Boyd AY 87-88. VN includes a snippet from _Cantico_ in ADA.
Don Johnson
Original Message -----
From: "Galya Diment" <galya@u.washington.edu>
To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Sent: Wednesday, February 12, 2003 3:06 PM
Subject: Don Quixote, Nabokov, and Spanish (fwd)
> From: Mikhail Avrekh <mavrekh@lbl.gov>
>
> I seem to recall that VN indicated somewhere -- in some comment on
> "Lolita", I believe, where he expresses his bewilderment at what Spanish
translators may have
> done to the book, lacking his supervision -- his ignorance of Spanish. Yet
> to someone reading Nabokov's "Lectures on Don Quixote", it becomes
> clear that he had some knowledge of Spanish syntax, grammar, and
> etymology; certainly enough to elucidate the origins and the meanings of
> some words.
>
> I wonder whether he in fact knew some Spanish, or whether he consulted
> someone who did. I apologize if this has been discussed before; I've
> looked in "The American Years", but couldn't find any indications of where
> VN's knowledge of Spanish may have come from.