Gary Lipon:...how did VN come
to find stang...
Victor Fet: From his
goalkeeping youth. So far nobody noticed that there is a RUSSIAN "shtanga"
(derived from 'der Stange'), which, among a number of exotic terms (such as
barbell) means a goalpost - or any metal post (either vertical or
horizontal).The term appears, for example, in "Drugie berega" (12.3) in football
context ("prislonivshis k levoi shtange vorot"); the
same in "Speak, memory" (13.4): ("leant my back against the
left goalpost").When the football hits it, the Russian soccer fans
scream: "SHTANGA!!"
Joseph Aisenberg:: ...the word
"stang" was, I believe used in The Gift as well. I think it was in the second
chapter... If I'm right it seems very interesting that N should have used the
same word in two novels about in almost exactly the same dramatic contexts:
characters on grim journeys to commit suicide!
Abdel
Bouazza: Your good memory is exemplary. Many thanks for reminding
me of this instance. It is on page 58 of the first US edition of The Gift:
"After dinner...they equipped themselves with the
revolver... set off on a streetcar...for the Grunewald where they planned to
find a lonely spot and shoot themselves one after the other...Olya stood leaning
against the rear railing, gripping the black stang with a white, firm hand that
had a prominent ring on its index finger..." Please note the Tammamian
antithesis.
Alexey Sklyarenko: A.B, Olya stood leaning
against the rear railing, gripping the black stang with a white, firm hand that
had a prominent ring on its index finger...It remains to be said that Russian
word in Dar is shtanga:Оля, опершись спиной о задний борт и
держась за чёрную штангу белой, крепкой рукой с большим перстнем на указательном
пальце...
JM: My heart began to beat
faster while following how the List, when working together, completed
the full circle in relation to PF and "stang,"
with a link through various other works by VN towards a gripping finale.
Q.E.D - Beautiful!!!!! Congs to everyone
involved.