Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0004604, Tue, 30 Nov 1999 08:00:54 -0800

Subject
Query: Byloe Solo (fwd)
Date
Body
From: Okneanski <leonid.okneanski@stud.uni-muenchen.de>

Respected Nabokovians, here's a question concerning some Nabokov's novel
(story?) where a book "Byloe solo" ("Past Solo"? "Former Solo"?) is
mentioned. Who is the author of the "Byloe Solo"? What's the name of the
main character of the book?

Vnimanie, zagadka Nabokova!
V odnom iz proizvedenij Vladimira Nabokova figuriruet kniga pod
nazvaniem "Byloe solo". Esli sudit' po nazvaniyu i avtoru,
ukazannomu Nabokovym, mozhno podumat', chto e'to memuary izvestnogo
dzhazovogo pianista. Na samom zhe dele e'to sovsem drugoj roman. A
kakuyu stranu vozglavlyaet odnofamilec ego glavnogo geroya?


Thanks in advance.
l.

******The Russian text, which is somewhat different from English, suggests
that the question is a riddle rather than a query, and that the author of
the message knows the answer. Here is the translation of the Russian
sentences missing in the English version: "If one were to judge by the
title and the author, as specified by Nabokov, one may think it's memoirs
of a famous jazz pianist. In reality, it's a totally different kind of a
novel. And which country does a person bearing the protagonist's last
name rule over?" GD*******