Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0020653, Thu, 2 Sep 2010 17:45:00 -0600

Subject
Re: Botkin
Date
Body
2010/8/29 Alexey Sklyarenko <skylark05@mail.ru> wrote:

Speaking of Vasiliy Botkin (1812-69), the critic and historian of
> literature S. A. Vengerov (who is mentioned in *Ada*) compares him to a
> big bright reflector that makes brighter the poor light of the critic
> Vissarion Belinsky (or, more likely, it is the other way round: the poor
> light is Botkin and the bright reflector, Belinsky):
> ...
>
>

Thanks for this very attractive connection!

> Isn't Kinbote's Commentary such a reflector that makes Shade's Pale Fire so
> much brighter?
>
>
There are plenty of reflections, anyway.

Also, I didn't think you "failed to synthesize sun and star correctly". It
seems to me Nabokov could have been thinking of scissors' finger holes and
hinge, as well as other things. We could even imagine that the moon is the
other finger hole, especially if it's not a perfect circle.

Jerry Friedman

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/








Attachment