Subject
Fw: Salon article on Sergey Nabokov
From
Date
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> From: Galya Diment <galya@u.washington.edu>
> To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> Subject: Re: Salon article on Sergey Nabokov
> Date: Friday, May 19, 2000 3:51 PM
>
>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (45 lines)
------------------
>
> Lev Grossman's article *does* mention Kinbote: "From the giggly ballet
> dancers of Nabokov's first novel, 'Mary,' to the ghastly Gaston Godin,
> Humbert Humbert's neighbor in 'Lolita,' TO THE EGOMANIACAL NARRATOR OF
> 'PALE FIRE,' they are vain, silly, usually effeminate -- he uses the word
> 'mincing' a lot -- shallow, intellectually trivial and ineffectual, and
> the narrator generally introduces them with a nudge and a wink and a
> snigger." The article also mentions Paduk: "...Nabokov's feelings about
> his brother were never simple: In 'Bend Sinister' it's not the hero who's
> gay but the dictator who orders his death."
>
> I am sure the article will provoke strong feelings and opinions (the
> list discussions of the issue never fail to, after all). I personally
> found it to be well written, educational (it was great seeing glimpses of
> Sergei's own letters), balanced, and thoughtful.
>
> Galya Diment
>
>
> On Fri, 19 May 2000, D. Barton Johnson wrote:
>
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Camille Scaysbrook
> > To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum
> > Sent: Wednesday, May 17, 2000 4:55 PM
> > Subject: Re: Salon article on Sergey Nabokov
> >
> >
> > The thing that puzzles me about this article is that it makes no
reference to Charles Kinbote who is (if we separate him from the `is he
Shade or is Shade Kinbote' controversy) the only gay narrator and main
character of any of Nabokov's books. There is something very sad and
touching about Kinbote's sexuality, the passage about the way he could love
his wife fully in dreams but not reality always sticks in my mind. This,
and his adolescent romance with the dead prince are so touching as to seem
difficult to reconcile with Nabokov's homophobic attitudes. Still, I found
Sergei's story fascinating, and it certainly adds a new perspective for me
on many of the young men `palely loitering' through Nabokov's prose.
> >
> > Camille Scaysbrook
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: D. Barton Johnson
> > To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> > Sent: Thursday, May 18, 2000 4:29 AM
> > Subject: Salon article on Sergey Nabokov
> >
> >
> > A piece on
> > Sergei Nabokov has just =ppeared in the online magazine Salon today.
The URL is:
> >
> > =/FONT>
> >
> From: Galya Diment <galya@u.washington.edu>
> To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> Subject: Re: Salon article on Sergey Nabokov
> Date: Friday, May 19, 2000 3:51 PM
>
>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (45 lines)
------------------
>
> Lev Grossman's article *does* mention Kinbote: "From the giggly ballet
> dancers of Nabokov's first novel, 'Mary,' to the ghastly Gaston Godin,
> Humbert Humbert's neighbor in 'Lolita,' TO THE EGOMANIACAL NARRATOR OF
> 'PALE FIRE,' they are vain, silly, usually effeminate -- he uses the word
> 'mincing' a lot -- shallow, intellectually trivial and ineffectual, and
> the narrator generally introduces them with a nudge and a wink and a
> snigger." The article also mentions Paduk: "...Nabokov's feelings about
> his brother were never simple: In 'Bend Sinister' it's not the hero who's
> gay but the dictator who orders his death."
>
> I am sure the article will provoke strong feelings and opinions (the
> list discussions of the issue never fail to, after all). I personally
> found it to be well written, educational (it was great seeing glimpses of
> Sergei's own letters), balanced, and thoughtful.
>
> Galya Diment
>
>
> On Fri, 19 May 2000, D. Barton Johnson wrote:
>
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: Camille Scaysbrook
> > To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum
> > Sent: Wednesday, May 17, 2000 4:55 PM
> > Subject: Re: Salon article on Sergey Nabokov
> >
> >
> > The thing that puzzles me about this article is that it makes no
reference to Charles Kinbote who is (if we separate him from the `is he
Shade or is Shade Kinbote' controversy) the only gay narrator and main
character of any of Nabokov's books. There is something very sad and
touching about Kinbote's sexuality, the passage about the way he could love
his wife fully in dreams but not reality always sticks in my mind. This,
and his adolescent romance with the dead prince are so touching as to seem
difficult to reconcile with Nabokov's homophobic attitudes. Still, I found
Sergei's story fascinating, and it certainly adds a new perspective for me
on many of the young men `palely loitering' through Nabokov's prose.
> >
> > Camille Scaysbrook
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: D. Barton Johnson
> > To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> > Sent: Thursday, May 18, 2000 4:29 AM
> > Subject: Salon article on Sergey Nabokov
> >
> >
> > A piece on
> > Sergei Nabokov has just =ppeared in the online magazine Salon today.
The URL is:
> >
> > =/FONT>
> >