Frances Assa [to JM] I beg to differ. Why
bring in Eliot at all? And if you're looking for contemporary sources, the
phrase The Third Man more likely came from Graham Greene's book and the movie
made from it. VN did not much appreciate Eliot...
JM: Data massima
venia but Eliot's presence in Pale Fire is far from spectral,
even though VN was often critical of T.S.E.( I don't think he dismissed him
as easily as it might seem to you ).
Alexey (a
retake): ...The leaving out of the "t" in the second (or rather third, if we
count the particule in the middle) component of her nom de plume should make it
more intime (1.31). In the old Russian alphabet, the letter "t" was called
tvyordo ("hard," used as an adverb in the sense "firmly," "solidly,"
etc.).
JM: It is interesting
to contrast this "hard", "solid" "t" in ADA ( where it is used
for Ida's sentimental novels and
poor lyrical connections), with the one in Lolita ( as an
expression of genuine "lyricism"). I look forward to your
sonorous developments in the same way in which I visually
enjoied VN's colored alphabet...
VN advises
in SO
(p.53): "my nymphet's grace and of the soft, melting American
landscape slip very delicately into lyrical Russian.[...] Note that for the
necessary effect of dreamy tenderness both "l"s and the "t" and
indeed the whole word should be iberized and not pronounced the American way
with crushed "l"s, a coarse "t" and a long
"o".
( also p.25) a
diminutive with a lyrical lilt to it. One of the most limpid and luminous
letters is the "L". The suffix "-ita" has a lot of Latin tenderness, and
this I required too. Hence: Lolita....
Related
Quotes from
Lolita:
Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul.
Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to
tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta.
SO: "Lah-lee-ta,
svet moey zh izni, ogon' moih chrsel. Greh moy, dusha
moya."
ADA:
A pale diaphanous butterfly with a very black
body followed them [...] closely related to a Japanese Parnassian. Mlle
Larivičre said suddenly she would use a pseudonym when publishing the
story.[...]her gorgeous pseudonym ‘Guillaume de Monparnasse’
(the leaving out of the ‘t’ made it more intime) was well-known from
Quebec to Kaluga.