From: NABOKV-LSent: Wednesday, November 01, 2006 8:35 PMSubject: [NABOKV-L] JF: many minor corrections concerning PF, with additions to the timelineDon Johnson gave me credit for suggesting that Ford and Frost
might have been adjacent in an index, but that was Susan
Elizabeth Sweeney's suggestion. On the other hand, I think it
was my exegesis of "nebulae" that he spoke of so kindly--
though I missed the point that some bright nebulae shine by
/reflected/ light, as Dmitri Nabokov mentioned. Others
("emission nebulae") shine by a process like fluorescence
excited by the very hot, young stars inside them, but that
probably still qualifies as pale fire.Nick Grundy wrote interestingly about miliary tuberculosis,
but I think "nebulae" suggest a cloudy appearance on an
x-ray picture, not star-like dots. Of course I may have
been wrong in thinking pneumonia would produce "clouds".Sergei Soloviev wrote:[snip]> Dear Carolyn,
>
> I think the things can be much simpler:
> > the correct spelling is Sibyl
> in French the correct spelling is Sybille, and Irondell (hirondelle)
> indicates clearly her French (french canadian) origins (mentioned
> b. t. w. explicitly)."Irondell" looks to me like an English name of French origin, not
a French name.
[snip things I agree with]> Many good singers including the Nightingale belong to the family
> Turdidae (as indeed thrushes do).
>
> Sylviidae are usually less good singers.Carolyn's confusion about thrushes and Old World warblers
(Sylviidae) may have arisen because they probably are related
and in the last few decades have sometimes been considered part
of the same huge family together with some other mostly Old
World families. However, I think the taxonomists are over that
idea.Some warblers are famous singers. The blackcap (/Sylvia atricapilla/,
slavka chernogolovaya) has been compared to the nightingale,
and some writers (the first one I found was Theodore Roosevelt at
<http://www.bartleby.com/55/9.html>) consider its song better.It may or may not be relevant that a member of the family
Sylviidae but not the genus /Sylvia/, the marsh warbler
(/Acrocephalus palustris/, bolotnaya kamyshevka), is Europe's
most notable mimic of other birds.> I don't think it is a convincing link.Me neither, I have to say. There are lots of birds in the
book, some associated with women and girls (Disa has a
waxwing on her coat of arms, Hazel is an ugly cygnet, Queen
Blenda shot capercaillie and woodcock, Mrs. Kaplun is a
dilapidated eagle) and some not (sea gulls in Nice, Kinbote
identifies the birds in his yard, the Royal Game of the
Goose and Garh the goose-boy in the Index).Finally, Don Johnson reposted my /Pale Fire/ timeline. I'm
delighted if anyone is finding it useful! The repost has been
useful to me, since Jansy pointed out that I mis-wrote the
title of Proust's novel as including "des temps perdus" when
it should be "du temps perdu". Obrigado!The reposted version (which I got in my spam folder, so I didn't
see it till yesterday) is missing the end. I'm posting that
again with yet another correction: I've added the reference for
my last note (which a person asked me about off-list when I
originally posted it).Jerry Friedman----July 22-29
Kinbote circulates in New Wye with the poem sewn into his clothes.
He interviews Jack Grey once or twice. Grey "confesses" that he
is Gradus, the Shadows' regicide. "A few days" after the last
interview, Grey kills himself (n. 1000, I.).July 24
In a newspaper interview a "professed Shadean" states that "Pale
Fire" is fragmentary (FW).July 25
Sybil Shade affirms in a document (her contract with Kinbote?) that
Shade "never intended to go beyond four parts" (FW).July 25-29
During "the last week of July", the August issue of the _Nouvelle
Revue Candienne_, with two translations by Sybil, appears in New
Wye. Kinbote makes critical notes but doesn't communicate them to
Sybil (n. 678).July 29
Kinbote leaves New Wye for NY after a "lugubrious week" (FW, n. 1000).
That day or shortly thereafter, Kinbote has the ms. of "Pale Fire"
photographed and, at sunset, he rejects one of Shade's publishers
(FW).Probably the next day
Kinbote makes a publication deal with "good old Frank" (FW).Before Aug. 21
En route from New York to Cedarn, Kinbote spends a couple of days
in Chicago, where he sees Prof. Hurley's Appreciation of Shade
(n. 71) and meets Jane Provost. Jane gives him information about
Hazel and the Haunted Barn incident. Pete Provost is, "alas,
selling automobiles in Detroit" (n. 385-386).After reaching Cedarn
Kinbote sends Sybil a letter with queries about the poem (FW).Early Sept.?
The "little blue-jeaned fisherman" stops fishing near Kinbote's
cabin. (n. 609-614).At least a month after Kinbote's letter
Sybil sends Kinbote a telegram asking him to accept Professors C.
and H. as co-editors (FW).Sometime in here
A newspaper reprints Shade's poem "Mountain View" (n. 92).Oct. 19
Kinbote finishes the Foreword (FW).Oct. 19? 20?
Kinbote commits suicide (_Strong Opinions_).1979 July 1
An $11,000,000 note for the Decker Glass Manufacturing Company comes
due (n. 949).
Search the Nabokv-L archive at UCSB
All private editorial communications, without exception, are read by both co-editors.