Subject
Re: from Ron Rosenbaum re VN's own words about the <Pale Fire>
narrator]]
narrator]]
From
Date
Body
I was confused, as perhaps other readers were, on how point 3 supported a
Shadean reading. To understand one needs the actual deleted quote, which I
trust some may find useful:
"As John Shade says somewhere:
Nobody will heed my index,
I suppose,
But through it a gentle wind ex
Ponto blows."
~c
On Tue, Aug 10, 2010 at 2:34 PM, Nabokv-L <nabokv-l@utk.edu> wrote:
>
>
> -------- Original Message -------- Subject: RE: [NABOKV-L] from Ron
> Rosenbaum re VN's own words about the narrator] Date: Tue, 10 Aug 2010
> 12:22:37 -0700 From: Simon Rowberry <s.p.rowberry@WINCHESTER.AC.UK><s.p.rowberry@WINCHESTER.AC.UK> To:
> <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU> <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU> CC: Simon
> Rowberry <s.p.rowberry@WINCHESTER.AC.UK> <s.p.rowberry@WINCHESTER.AC.UK>
> Concerning Nabokov's own words on Pale Fire, I think it is important to
> consider the fact he made
> (at least) three statements on his intentions:
>
> 1. Mentioning 'the day on which Kinbote committed suicide (and he certainly
> did after putting the
> last touches to his edition to the poem)' to Alfred Appel Jr. in Wisconsin
> Studies in Contemporary
> Literature (1967)
>
> As well as the two other statements discussed previously:
>
> 2. I wonder if any reader will notice... that the nasty commentator is not
> an ex-king and not even
> Dr. Kinbote, but Prof. Vseslav Botkin, a Russian and a madman from his
> diary in 1962
>
> 3. The insertion, and subsequent deletion, of poetry attributed to John
> Shade in Nabokov's draft of
> his revised Speak, Memory, which has used as evidence for the Shadean
> school of interpretation,
> from a similar time period.
>
> These statements contradict each other, if Kinbote indeed is real enough to
> be 'the nasty
> commentator' and commit suicide, John Shade could not have constructed him,
> which would be
> the logical conclusion if Shade has constructed the index, as indiciated by
> the Nabokov's insertion
> to Speak, Memory. Thus, we are left with two main options as to the meaning
> of this shift in
> interpretation (interpretation, I would stress, is the key word here. There
> is no correct 'solution' to
> the novel, as it is not an empirical problem but a work of art, only
> interpretations).
>
> Firstly, Nabokov may have had a Boydian change of mind about the
> intricacies of Pale Fire, and
> decided to join the emerging Shadeans. I believe the dates do not match up
> for this, which leads
> me to a second conclusion: Nabokov had intended for the novel to be re-read
> and scanned for
> clues (hence the hypertextual format of the text), and probably had a few
> psuedo-solutions for
> the reader to find (most likely that Kinbote was Botkin), but then the
> novel showed hidden depths
> that Nabokov had not considered, which led to these contradictory
> statements.
>
> The fact that Pale Fire veered out of Nabokov's control is not undesirable,
> however, as it has
> allowed the novel to remain exciting and relevant to this day, with new
> theories being developed
> regularly, even if one will inevitably disagree with at least half of them.
>
> Thus, I would advise with taking Nabokov's words on 'solutions' to Pale
> Fire with a pinch of salt,
> since the novel has arguably developed into a more organic novel, than the
> sterile artifact it would
> have become if Nabokov's statements would have become canon.
>
> Best,
> Simon Rowberry
>
> Search the archive<http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en> Contact
> the Editors <nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu> Visit "Nabokov
> Online Journal" <http://www.nabokovonline.com> Visit Zembla<http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm> View
> Nabokv-L Policies <http://web.utk.edu/%7Esblackwe/EDNote.htm> Manage
> subscription options <http://listserv.ucsb.edu/>
>
> All private editorial communications, without exception, are read by both
> co-editors.
>
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Shadean reading. To understand one needs the actual deleted quote, which I
trust some may find useful:
"As John Shade says somewhere:
Nobody will heed my index,
I suppose,
But through it a gentle wind ex
Ponto blows."
~c
On Tue, Aug 10, 2010 at 2:34 PM, Nabokv-L <nabokv-l@utk.edu> wrote:
>
>
> -------- Original Message -------- Subject: RE: [NABOKV-L] from Ron
> Rosenbaum re VN's own words about the narrator] Date: Tue, 10 Aug 2010
> 12:22:37 -0700 From: Simon Rowberry <s.p.rowberry@WINCHESTER.AC.UK><s.p.rowberry@WINCHESTER.AC.UK> To:
> <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU> <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU> CC: Simon
> Rowberry <s.p.rowberry@WINCHESTER.AC.UK> <s.p.rowberry@WINCHESTER.AC.UK>
> Concerning Nabokov's own words on Pale Fire, I think it is important to
> consider the fact he made
> (at least) three statements on his intentions:
>
> 1. Mentioning 'the day on which Kinbote committed suicide (and he certainly
> did after putting the
> last touches to his edition to the poem)' to Alfred Appel Jr. in Wisconsin
> Studies in Contemporary
> Literature (1967)
>
> As well as the two other statements discussed previously:
>
> 2. I wonder if any reader will notice... that the nasty commentator is not
> an ex-king and not even
> Dr. Kinbote, but Prof. Vseslav Botkin, a Russian and a madman from his
> diary in 1962
>
> 3. The insertion, and subsequent deletion, of poetry attributed to John
> Shade in Nabokov's draft of
> his revised Speak, Memory, which has used as evidence for the Shadean
> school of interpretation,
> from a similar time period.
>
> These statements contradict each other, if Kinbote indeed is real enough to
> be 'the nasty
> commentator' and commit suicide, John Shade could not have constructed him,
> which would be
> the logical conclusion if Shade has constructed the index, as indiciated by
> the Nabokov's insertion
> to Speak, Memory. Thus, we are left with two main options as to the meaning
> of this shift in
> interpretation (interpretation, I would stress, is the key word here. There
> is no correct 'solution' to
> the novel, as it is not an empirical problem but a work of art, only
> interpretations).
>
> Firstly, Nabokov may have had a Boydian change of mind about the
> intricacies of Pale Fire, and
> decided to join the emerging Shadeans. I believe the dates do not match up
> for this, which leads
> me to a second conclusion: Nabokov had intended for the novel to be re-read
> and scanned for
> clues (hence the hypertextual format of the text), and probably had a few
> psuedo-solutions for
> the reader to find (most likely that Kinbote was Botkin), but then the
> novel showed hidden depths
> that Nabokov had not considered, which led to these contradictory
> statements.
>
> The fact that Pale Fire veered out of Nabokov's control is not undesirable,
> however, as it has
> allowed the novel to remain exciting and relevant to this day, with new
> theories being developed
> regularly, even if one will inevitably disagree with at least half of them.
>
> Thus, I would advise with taking Nabokov's words on 'solutions' to Pale
> Fire with a pinch of salt,
> since the novel has arguably developed into a more organic novel, than the
> sterile artifact it would
> have become if Nabokov's statements would have become canon.
>
> Best,
> Simon Rowberry
>
> Search the archive<http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en> Contact
> the Editors <nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu> Visit "Nabokov
> Online Journal" <http://www.nabokovonline.com> Visit Zembla<http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm> View
> Nabokv-L Policies <http://web.utk.edu/%7Esblackwe/EDNote.htm> Manage
> subscription options <http://listserv.ucsb.edu/>
>
> All private editorial communications, without exception, are read by both
> co-editors.
>
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/