Subject
Re: from Ron Rosenbaum re Pale Firings
From
Date
Body
Ron Rosembaum (re Pale Firings) Has anyone else noticed the contradictory logic of B. Boyd and his loyal defenders in regard to the role of Hazel Shade in <Pale Fire>? On the one hand we are told by Jerry Friedman that Boyd never <really> argued for the role for the dead girl's ghost in writing/inspiring <Pale Fire> or "Pale Fire" On the other hand we are told with unconvincing muse-ings such as that from R.S. Gwynn that, if in fact Boyd did so argue (as most would agree he did), he was right. I agree with Jansy that they are wrong on both counts. I think the problem is that Boyd (and many others) are too eager to offer a "solution" to <Pale Fire> as if it were some crossword puzzle rather than a luminous numinous work of art.
JM: I haven't re-read Brian Boyd's book to opine about the authorship-theme (Hazel's insufflating her father's poem), as it's possible for "Boyd's loyal defenders." However I still believe that my recollection of Boyd's overall argument is sound [as posted on 04/08/2010:I think it perfectly valid to consider that, in one level (ie: of the plot, as concocted by Kinbote, namely, the novel itself) it was Hazel who inspired Shade's hand. I don't subscribe to this theory ...but I don't see why this idea clashes with any subsequent arguments about Nabokov's authorship of the poem taken in isolation.]
R.R is right when he places me among those who avoid a definitive "solution to Pale Fire." And yet I should also like to be included among those who think that there's not a definitive solution to the issues of embracing, denying, finding or working over a solution to Pale Fire.
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/
JM: I haven't re-read Brian Boyd's book to opine about the authorship-theme (Hazel's insufflating her father's poem), as it's possible for "Boyd's loyal defenders." However I still believe that my recollection of Boyd's overall argument is sound [as posted on 04/08/2010:I think it perfectly valid to consider that, in one level (ie: of the plot, as concocted by Kinbote, namely, the novel itself) it was Hazel who inspired Shade's hand. I don't subscribe to this theory ...but I don't see why this idea clashes with any subsequent arguments about Nabokov's authorship of the poem taken in isolation.]
R.R is right when he places me among those who avoid a definitive "solution to Pale Fire." And yet I should also like to be included among those who think that there's not a definitive solution to the issues of embracing, denying, finding or working over a solution to Pale Fire.
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/