In the previous message to the List (see below) I
had established that Poshlost' was vnuchka leni (a
grand-daughter of Idleness). I just suddenly realized who
was Poshlost''s grand-father. Dedushka ("grandpa," as he
was often called affectionately) Lenin! As you remember, Gorki, author of
Chelovek ("Man"), is also the author of the famous necrologic
essay, "V. I. Lenin." In it he several times calls Lenin "the Man written with a
capitalized initial" (Chelovek s bol'shoi bukvy), which is, by the
way, another example of poshlost'.
Isn't this side-splitting? I think I'll try to
write another short note for The Nabokovian before the expire of the
year.
Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to
all!
Alexey
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, December 23, 2006 2:46
AM
Subject: [NABOKV-L] Fw: good example of
poshlust
A good example of poshlust found in Gorki's "Man"
(Chelovek):
"Faith (Vera) with her dark eyes looks into his [Man's]
rebellious face and awaits him to her calm embrace..." (zhdiot ego v
svoi spokoinye ob'iatiia, can not translate the phrase's
ending adequately)
A little further into Gorki's piece, Poshlost' is called
"daughter of the vile Boredom" that in turn is called "daughter of
Idleness." Poshlost' is thus a grand-daughter of Idleness
(Len').
Alexey Sklyarenko
Search the Nabokv-L archive at
UCSB
Contact the
Editors
All private editorial communications, without exception,
are read by both co-editors.
Visit Zembla
View Nabokv-L Policies