Subject
Nabokov meets Michael Caine; Sting; and the movies
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Dane Gill" <pennyparkerpark@hotmail.com>
>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (17
lines) ------------------
> Just a weird little anedote:
> In 1984 Michael Caine (Yes, that British movie star of just about every
> movie ever made) wrote a book entitled Not Many People Know That. That's
> weird enough, but this is how Nabokov fits into this. The book is laid out
> as a calender year, and ther's a little write up for every day of the
year
> about something not so commonly known that happened on that certain date.
> April 22nd reads as follows:
>
> "The Russian writer Vladimir Nabokov, who was born today in 1899, wrote
the
> controversial novel Lolita, which dealt with an older man's obsession with
a
> teenage girl. Apart from being a contentious literary figure, Nabokov was
> obsessed with the more sedate hoppy of butterfly-collecting." (p.74)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Okay
Every Nabokovian everywhere knows how Sting and the Police tried to make
themselves looked like literary minded hipsters by mentioning Nabokov in
their song "Don't Stand So Close to Me", but instead sounded like morons by
pronouncing his name wrong (maybe they didn't sound like morons to everyone,
but to anyone who knows the difference, it sounded silly) * note: I was only
4 years old when this song came out so I didn't really appreciate the
Police's mistake until recently*. Anyway, I thought to myself that maybe
Sting actually knew what he was talking about, that he wasn't just a poser,
and that he just pronounced the name wrong - like so many people do (a
pardonable mistake). But then one day I found myself looking at the liner
notes of The Best of The Police. I figured I'd have a look at the lyrics of
Don't Stand So Close To Me, just to see VN's name (I was bored - long
story). I looked down the words and read the following (this is exactly what
it reads):
"Just like that old man in that book by NABAKOV"
Sting and the Police (Or should I say Stang and The Pole Ease) are idiots
_________________________________________________________________
I completely agree with Juan Martinez. The better movies come from the less
literary novels (with a few exceptions...One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
comes to mind); novels that are more or less completely plot driven (though
LOTR - the novel - does contain quite a bit of "setting", and this is
included in the movie, it is more or less a plot novel). But I must add to
your list (I'm simply compelled) The Godfather (the novel being a step above
pulp, the movie being great)
Cheers.
--------------------------------------------------------
>
From: "Dane Gill" <pennyparkerpark@hotmail.com>
>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (17
lines) ------------------
> Just a weird little anedote:
> In 1984 Michael Caine (Yes, that British movie star of just about every
> movie ever made) wrote a book entitled Not Many People Know That. That's
> weird enough, but this is how Nabokov fits into this. The book is laid out
> as a calender year, and ther's a little write up for every day of the
year
> about something not so commonly known that happened on that certain date.
> April 22nd reads as follows:
>
> "The Russian writer Vladimir Nabokov, who was born today in 1899, wrote
the
> controversial novel Lolita, which dealt with an older man's obsession with
a
> teenage girl. Apart from being a contentious literary figure, Nabokov was
> obsessed with the more sedate hoppy of butterfly-collecting." (p.74)
----------------------------------------------------------------------
Okay
Every Nabokovian everywhere knows how Sting and the Police tried to make
themselves looked like literary minded hipsters by mentioning Nabokov in
their song "Don't Stand So Close to Me", but instead sounded like morons by
pronouncing his name wrong (maybe they didn't sound like morons to everyone,
but to anyone who knows the difference, it sounded silly) * note: I was only
4 years old when this song came out so I didn't really appreciate the
Police's mistake until recently*. Anyway, I thought to myself that maybe
Sting actually knew what he was talking about, that he wasn't just a poser,
and that he just pronounced the name wrong - like so many people do (a
pardonable mistake). But then one day I found myself looking at the liner
notes of The Best of The Police. I figured I'd have a look at the lyrics of
Don't Stand So Close To Me, just to see VN's name (I was bored - long
story). I looked down the words and read the following (this is exactly what
it reads):
"Just like that old man in that book by NABAKOV"
Sting and the Police (Or should I say Stang and The Pole Ease) are idiots
_________________________________________________________________
I completely agree with Juan Martinez. The better movies come from the less
literary novels (with a few exceptions...One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest
comes to mind); novels that are more or less completely plot driven (though
LOTR - the novel - does contain quite a bit of "setting", and this is
included in the movie, it is more or less a plot novel). But I must add to
your list (I'm simply compelled) The Godfather (the novel being a step above
pulp, the movie being great)
Cheers.
--------------------------------------------------------
>