Subject
Re: THOUGHTS re: Botkin, V.
From
Date
Body
Jerry Friedman:
I'm sure you're right about Vseslav being meant as a given name rather than
a surname (although, as an invention of Kinbote, all of King Charles's
names and appellations are ``given'', including the peculiar Xavier--the
king is not a Catholic--and, as you've brought out, the lycanthropic and
sorcerous Vseslav).
Matt Roth:
You're right about the inconsistent typography in other index entries. It
was carelessness on my part not to check this myself. Perhaps a look at the
holograph or publisher's typescript could resolve these questions.
Bearing in mind Matt Roth's correction, I would still call attention to a
statement by Shade that Kinbote claims to have overheard:
``That is the wrong word,'' [Shade] said. ``One should not apply it to a
person who deliberately peels off a drab and unhappy past and replaces it
with a brilliant invention. That's merely turning a new leaf with the left
hand.''
We have here a question of identity together with the front and back of a
leaf. I'd also note the peculiarity of the gesture described by Shade, which
implies hiding the page being turned from others' eyes.
The words of the grotesquely named Eberthella reported by Kinbote in the
sequel also contain an implication about Kinbote's identity:
``You must help us, Mr. Kinbote: I maintain that what's his name, old -- the
old man, you know, at the Exton railway station, who thought he was God and
began redirecting trains, was technically a loony, but John calls him a
fellow poet.''
The implication is not in the story of the old man, but rather in Mrs. H's
assumption that Kinbote knows the story. She expects Kinbote, who claims to
be freshly arrived in New Wye, to recall an incident that seems to go back
an indeterminate while. This suggests to me that the recto/verso hypothesis
in the ``Botkin, V'' index entry is not without an anchor in the text.
On Sat, Feb 7, 2009 at 1:59 PM, Nabokv-L <nabokv-l@utk.edu> wrote:
>
>
> -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: [NABOKV-L] new in Zembla Date:
> Sat, 7 Feb 2009 09:17:15 -0800 (PST) From: Jerry Friedman
> <jerry_friedman@yahoo.com> <jerry_friedman@yahoo.com> Reply-To:
> jerry_friedman@yahoo.com To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum
> <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU> <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU> CC:
> jerry_friedman@yahoo.com
> Dear Steve Arons,
>
> If you don't mind my disagreeing with something in your
> recent post, I interpret "Vseslav" as one of Charles's
> given names. In Russian it's a given name, not a surname
> (I believe). Charles has several names and no surname,
> like Queen Elizabeth (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary) or Prince
> Charles (Charles Philip Arthur George).
>
> Here's a post of mine from December 2006 on the name
> Vseslav (after some other stuff):
>
> http://listserv.ucsb.edu/lsv-cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0612&L=nabokv-l&T=0&P=8245
>
> with a response from Jansy Mello:
>
> http://listserv.ucsb.edu/lsv-cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0612&L=nabokv-l&T=0&P=8557
>
> and one from Victor Fet:
>
> http://listserv.ucsb.edu/lsv-cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0612&L=nabokv-l&T=0&P=8373
>
> This reminded me to check something I wondered in those
> posts: whether Russian /vira/, meaning kinbote or weregild,
> is related to "weregild" (and "werewolf"). It is. The
> Russian etymological dictionary by Max Vasmer (Maks Fasmer)
> is available at
> http://imwerden.de/pdf/preobrazhensky_etimologihesky_slovar_tom1_1914.pdf
> (volume 1), and on p. 318 it says that "vira" is assumed to
> be a loanword from the Germanic languages, related to
> modern German "Wergeld". (If I'm reading it correctly
> with the help of a dictionary.)
>
> This doesn't prove anything, but if Nabokov meant "Vseslav"
> and maybe "Kinbote" to suggest werewolves, as I think, then
> it may provide a little additional enjoyment.
>
> On your suggestion about the V., I'm with Matt--I enjoy the
> idea, but I don't think there's any way to be sure (not
> totally different from "vira" and "werewolf"). Now if
> Kinbote's first name had begun with an R...
>
> Jerry Friedman
>
> 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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Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
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/
I'm sure you're right about Vseslav being meant as a given name rather than
a surname (although, as an invention of Kinbote, all of King Charles's
names and appellations are ``given'', including the peculiar Xavier--the
king is not a Catholic--and, as you've brought out, the lycanthropic and
sorcerous Vseslav).
Matt Roth:
You're right about the inconsistent typography in other index entries. It
was carelessness on my part not to check this myself. Perhaps a look at the
holograph or publisher's typescript could resolve these questions.
Bearing in mind Matt Roth's correction, I would still call attention to a
statement by Shade that Kinbote claims to have overheard:
``That is the wrong word,'' [Shade] said. ``One should not apply it to a
person who deliberately peels off a drab and unhappy past and replaces it
with a brilliant invention. That's merely turning a new leaf with the left
hand.''
We have here a question of identity together with the front and back of a
leaf. I'd also note the peculiarity of the gesture described by Shade, which
implies hiding the page being turned from others' eyes.
The words of the grotesquely named Eberthella reported by Kinbote in the
sequel also contain an implication about Kinbote's identity:
``You must help us, Mr. Kinbote: I maintain that what's his name, old -- the
old man, you know, at the Exton railway station, who thought he was God and
began redirecting trains, was technically a loony, but John calls him a
fellow poet.''
The implication is not in the story of the old man, but rather in Mrs. H's
assumption that Kinbote knows the story. She expects Kinbote, who claims to
be freshly arrived in New Wye, to recall an incident that seems to go back
an indeterminate while. This suggests to me that the recto/verso hypothesis
in the ``Botkin, V'' index entry is not without an anchor in the text.
On Sat, Feb 7, 2009 at 1:59 PM, Nabokv-L <nabokv-l@utk.edu> wrote:
>
>
> -------- Original Message -------- Subject: Re: [NABOKV-L] new in Zembla Date:
> Sat, 7 Feb 2009 09:17:15 -0800 (PST) From: Jerry Friedman
> <jerry_friedman@yahoo.com> <jerry_friedman@yahoo.com> Reply-To:
> jerry_friedman@yahoo.com To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum
> <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU> <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU> CC:
> jerry_friedman@yahoo.com
> Dear Steve Arons,
>
> If you don't mind my disagreeing with something in your
> recent post, I interpret "Vseslav" as one of Charles's
> given names. In Russian it's a given name, not a surname
> (I believe). Charles has several names and no surname,
> like Queen Elizabeth (Elizabeth Alexandra Mary) or Prince
> Charles (Charles Philip Arthur George).
>
> Here's a post of mine from December 2006 on the name
> Vseslav (after some other stuff):
>
> http://listserv.ucsb.edu/lsv-cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0612&L=nabokv-l&T=0&P=8245
>
> with a response from Jansy Mello:
>
> http://listserv.ucsb.edu/lsv-cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0612&L=nabokv-l&T=0&P=8557
>
> and one from Victor Fet:
>
> http://listserv.ucsb.edu/lsv-cgi-bin/wa?A2=ind0612&L=nabokv-l&T=0&P=8373
>
> This reminded me to check something I wondered in those
> posts: whether Russian /vira/, meaning kinbote or weregild,
> is related to "weregild" (and "werewolf"). It is. The
> Russian etymological dictionary by Max Vasmer (Maks Fasmer)
> is available at
> http://imwerden.de/pdf/preobrazhensky_etimologihesky_slovar_tom1_1914.pdf
> (volume 1), and on p. 318 it says that "vira" is assumed to
> be a loanword from the Germanic languages, related to
> modern German "Wergeld". (If I'm reading it correctly
> with the help of a dictionary.)
>
> This doesn't prove anything, but if Nabokov meant "Vseslav"
> and maybe "Kinbote" to suggest werewolves, as I think, then
> it may provide a little additional enjoyment.
>
> On your suggestion about the V., I'm with Matt--I enjoy the
> idea, but I don't think there's any way to be sure (not
> totally different from "vira" and "werewolf"). Now if
> Kinbote's first name had begun with an R...
>
> Jerry Friedman
>
> 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/