Hmmmm—I thought I was the only one who was bored by Dr. Zhivago.  I usually feel obligated to read through any book once I had started it, but I couldn’t finish Dr. Zhivago, even though that was a time in my life when I had time enough.  Nor have I seen the film, although like many males I am admirer of Julie Christie.

 

 

 

----- Original Message -----

From: NABOKV-L

To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU

Sent: Sunday, May 09, 2010 1:39 PM

Subject: [NABOKV-L] QUERY: A challenge for Nabokovians

 

Can anyone identify the author of the following few sentences? I will  
tell you that the author wrote in Russian and that these examples are  
from a translation into English. I also will divulge that the author  
was a contemporary of Nabokov. I would also like to hear, with or  
without identifying the author, reactions to these few excerpts:

    "Outside there was no trace of the road ... nothing but the blizzard,  
the air smoking with snow. .... Turning over and over in the sky,  
length after length of whiteness unwound over the earth and shrouded  
it."

    "In the kitchen garden there was nothing except some acacia bushes  
around the wall .... With each blast of wind the acacias danced as if  
possessed then lay down flat along the path."

    "How enchanting this place was! Orioles kept making their clear three-
note calls, stopping each time just long enough to let the countryside  
suck in the moist fluting sounds down to the last vibration. A heavy  
fragrance, motionless, as though having lost its way in the air, was  
fixed by the heat above the flower beds. This brought back memories of  
Antibes and Bordighera."

Carolyn Kunin

p.s. Jansy must be recused, as she knows something of what I'm up to.

p.p.s No googling, please.

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Search the archive	Contact the Editors	Visit "Nabokov Online Journal"
Visit Zembla	View Nabokv-L Policies	Manage subscription options

All private editorial communications, without exception, are read by both co-editors.