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From: "Johnson, Kurt" <JohnsonK@Coudert.com>
Here is the NY Times Book Review of Nabokov's Butterflies (there is
one glitch in this download, as it was sent me...so I can't cure it...seems
like word jumble or words missing).
>
> May 7, 2000, Sunday Late Edition
>
> Section: 7 Page: 22 Column:
>
> Books in Brief: Nonfiction
>
> By Laurie Adlerstein
>
>
>
> Nabokov's Butterflies
>
> Unpublished and Uncollected Writings.
>
> Edited by Brian Boyd
>
> and Robert Michael Pyle.
>
> Beacon, $45.
>
>
>
> Vladimir Nabokov's lecture on ''The Metamorphosis'' begins
with a discussion of the type of insect into
which Gregor Samsa had been transformed. Nabokov reveled
in reconstructing the fictional worlds only
hinted at in works of fiction; in this case,
lepidopterological expertise incited him to attempt entomological
identification. Even Nabokov, however, might tire of a
collection noting every time a moth flits by a lamp
in Nabokov's writings. Brian Boyd, the author of a
two-volume biography of Nabokov, and Robert
Michael Pyle, who has written six books about butterflies, have also
included an exhaustive assortment of scientific writings, correspondence,
poetry and interviews. In solid, if verbose, introductions, the editors
trumpet Nabokov's scientific legacy and its relevance. His research in
butterfly morphology led to a revolutionary reclassification of Blues, which
remains influential. Nabokov's diction, notes of nostalgia and
aper-->us warrant his advice to Edmund Wilson on wading through one of his
papers on lepidoptera:
''Try reading it between the descriptions.'' (Unlike much of his
correspondence, Nabokov's letters to
Wilson neither lapse into technical terminology nor
condescend.) Particularly entertaining are Nabokov's
sallies against publishers -- his projected ''Butterflies
of Europe'' and a study of butterflies in Western art
never reached fruition. Presumably, the prosaic poems bear the bruises of
translation from the Russian by Nabokov's son, Dmitri. With few exceptions,
the excerpts from longer fiction falter out of context; Nabokov's
butterflies were meant to flutter by fully conceived fictional worlds.
''Nabokov's Butterflies'' juxtaposes science and art, but cannot integrate
them.
Laurie Adlerstein
Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company
From: "Johnson, Kurt" <JohnsonK@Coudert.com>
Here is the NY Times Book Review of Nabokov's Butterflies (there is
one glitch in this download, as it was sent me...so I can't cure it...seems
like word jumble or words missing).
>
> May 7, 2000, Sunday Late Edition
>
> Section: 7 Page: 22 Column:
>
> Books in Brief: Nonfiction
>
> By Laurie Adlerstein
>
>
>
> Nabokov's Butterflies
>
> Unpublished and Uncollected Writings.
>
> Edited by Brian Boyd
>
> and Robert Michael Pyle.
>
> Beacon, $45.
>
>
>
> Vladimir Nabokov's lecture on ''The Metamorphosis'' begins
with a discussion of the type of insect into
which Gregor Samsa had been transformed. Nabokov reveled
in reconstructing the fictional worlds only
hinted at in works of fiction; in this case,
lepidopterological expertise incited him to attempt entomological
identification. Even Nabokov, however, might tire of a
collection noting every time a moth flits by a lamp
in Nabokov's writings. Brian Boyd, the author of a
two-volume biography of Nabokov, and Robert
Michael Pyle, who has written six books about butterflies, have also
included an exhaustive assortment of scientific writings, correspondence,
poetry and interviews. In solid, if verbose, introductions, the editors
trumpet Nabokov's scientific legacy and its relevance. His research in
butterfly morphology led to a revolutionary reclassification of Blues, which
remains influential. Nabokov's diction, notes of nostalgia and
aper-->us warrant his advice to Edmund Wilson on wading through one of his
papers on lepidoptera:
''Try reading it between the descriptions.'' (Unlike much of his
correspondence, Nabokov's letters to
Wilson neither lapse into technical terminology nor
condescend.) Particularly entertaining are Nabokov's
sallies against publishers -- his projected ''Butterflies
of Europe'' and a study of butterflies in Western art
never reached fruition. Presumably, the prosaic poems bear the bruises of
translation from the Russian by Nabokov's son, Dmitri. With few exceptions,
the excerpts from longer fiction falter out of context; Nabokov's
butterflies were meant to flutter by fully conceived fictional worlds.
''Nabokov's Butterflies'' juxtaposes science and art, but cannot integrate
them.
Laurie Adlerstein
Copyright 2000 The New York Times Company