Subject
Re: Wer ist Iris?
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Vielen Dank, Dieter. A timely warning against roaming beyond the borders of
one¹s native fluency. Ironically (and never to mention the War) the German
word most familiar to Brits of my generation (b. 1929) is the
noun-cum-warning Achtung! as seen chiefly inside cartoon balloons.
Clayton¹s allusion may well survive, but stated more cautiously. For
example, by merely noting the undoubted phonetic affinity between Acht and
achte. And the sound itself reeks of despair in all languages! Then, taking
the literal value 8, can trigger unbounded numerological and gematrial
speculations (if 8 doesn¹t work,¹ try 16 or 64!). All of which opens the
door to spurious associations, many of which VN himself disowned with ³I
wish I had thought of that² (but, often, one feels, with a touch of mock
discouragement.) The English idioms that spring to mind with over-zealous
allusion-hunting are ³making a meal of it,² and ³where to draw the line.²
After posting my own ³creative² (as in ³creative accounting²) link from
Iris(h) to Liebestod, I remembered Eliot¹s direct quote from Tristan und
Isolde in the Waste Land: Mein Irisch kind, Wo weilest du? (No challenge to
glossers and footnoters there!)
I continue to believe that, in spite of the fun in tracing the sources of
VN¹s every phrase, his wordplay is very much incidental to his genius for
capturing truth and beauty in atmosphere, character and plot. I glean some
support for this view in reading VN¹s comments on the greatness of Joyce¹s
Ulysses in contrast to the failure of narrative-obscured Finnegans Wake.
Stan Kelly-Bootle, Oswestry, Salopia, England.
On 15/01/2010 08:15, "Dieter E. Zimmer" <mail@D-E-ZIMMER.DE> wrote:
> I am sorry to say that in German "acht" is just "eight" and not the imperative
> form of "achten" (to respect, to pay attention), not even coloquially. The
> correct imperative of "achten" would be "achte", "achtet" or "achten Sie". As
> a noun, "die Acht" survives only in old idioms like "in Acht und Bann tun" (to
> ostracize). "Acht" is an albeit very rare German surname. Currently there is
> no "Iris Acht" in the telephone directory.
>
> Dieter Zimmer, Berlin
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>>
>> From: Carolyn Kunin <mailto:chaiselongue@EARTHLINK.NET>
>>
>> To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
>> Sent: Thursday, January 14, 2010 5:20 PM
>> Subject: [NABOKV-L] Wer ist Iris?
>> Clayton Smith on Iris Acht... Translated,³acht² would have a meaning akin
>> to the authoritative command, ³Pay attention!² Given Nabokov¹s knowledge of
>> German and penchant for linguistic games, there can be little doubt that he
>> is telling astute readers in no uncertain terms to look at this passage, and
>> specifically Iris Acht, very carefully."
>>
>> Dear Mr Smith,
>> Please don't forget the original Iris Acht - - an unfortunate actress who
>> dies young in a wild novel, the victim of a gray villain.
>> Carolyn Kunin
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one¹s native fluency. Ironically (and never to mention the War) the German
word most familiar to Brits of my generation (b. 1929) is the
noun-cum-warning Achtung! as seen chiefly inside cartoon balloons.
Clayton¹s allusion may well survive, but stated more cautiously. For
example, by merely noting the undoubted phonetic affinity between Acht and
achte. And the sound itself reeks of despair in all languages! Then, taking
the literal value 8, can trigger unbounded numerological and gematrial
speculations (if 8 doesn¹t work,¹ try 16 or 64!). All of which opens the
door to spurious associations, many of which VN himself disowned with ³I
wish I had thought of that² (but, often, one feels, with a touch of mock
discouragement.) The English idioms that spring to mind with over-zealous
allusion-hunting are ³making a meal of it,² and ³where to draw the line.²
After posting my own ³creative² (as in ³creative accounting²) link from
Iris(h) to Liebestod, I remembered Eliot¹s direct quote from Tristan und
Isolde in the Waste Land: Mein Irisch kind, Wo weilest du? (No challenge to
glossers and footnoters there!)
I continue to believe that, in spite of the fun in tracing the sources of
VN¹s every phrase, his wordplay is very much incidental to his genius for
capturing truth and beauty in atmosphere, character and plot. I glean some
support for this view in reading VN¹s comments on the greatness of Joyce¹s
Ulysses in contrast to the failure of narrative-obscured Finnegans Wake.
Stan Kelly-Bootle, Oswestry, Salopia, England.
On 15/01/2010 08:15, "Dieter E. Zimmer" <mail@D-E-ZIMMER.DE> wrote:
> I am sorry to say that in German "acht" is just "eight" and not the imperative
> form of "achten" (to respect, to pay attention), not even coloquially. The
> correct imperative of "achten" would be "achte", "achtet" or "achten Sie". As
> a noun, "die Acht" survives only in old idioms like "in Acht und Bann tun" (to
> ostracize). "Acht" is an albeit very rare German surname. Currently there is
> no "Iris Acht" in the telephone directory.
>
> Dieter Zimmer, Berlin
>>
>> ----- Original Message -----
>>
>> From: Carolyn Kunin <mailto:chaiselongue@EARTHLINK.NET>
>>
>> To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
>> Sent: Thursday, January 14, 2010 5:20 PM
>> Subject: [NABOKV-L] Wer ist Iris?
>> Clayton Smith on Iris Acht... Translated,³acht² would have a meaning akin
>> to the authoritative command, ³Pay attention!² Given Nabokov¹s knowledge of
>> German and penchant for linguistic games, there can be little doubt that he
>> is telling astute readers in no uncertain terms to look at this passage, and
>> specifically Iris Acht, very carefully."
>>
>> Dear Mr Smith,
>> Please don't forget the original Iris Acht - - an unfortunate actress who
>> dies young in a wild novel, the victim of a gray villain.
>> Carolyn Kunin
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
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Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
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Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/