Subject
Dmitri Nabokov on Unwarranted Assumptions: Balthus & VN
Date
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From Dmitri Nabokov in Montreux:
To take as an example Palm Beach, to whose culture I am exposed twice a
year, I frequently encounter examples like the following:
* A hostess at a party of which I was supposedly guest of honor proudly
announcing that she had seen my Father's show _Evita_ (surprisingly
literate husband hoarsely whispering "Shut up, Mrs Malaprop!"
* Another Palm Beach lady, sustained by a thin "European" patina (French
Tunisian, dressed to kill) declaring in 1995 or so, after acquaintance
with me of some eighteen years, that she was "vraiment surprise, mais
vraiment" upon learning a few days before (second-hand and vaguely) about
the subject of _Lolita_.
* A TV hostess who believed her extreme Anny-Fanny sexiness absolves her
of the need to read, to whom, in the course of an interview whose tape I
hope went from the can into the can, I illustrated the superficiality of
knowledge by saying that many thought they had learned Russian history if
they had so much as a recollection of "Lara's theme" from a film based
on that notorious pro-Soviet wool-puller _Dr. Zhivago_. Lighting up like a
Columbian balloon at that sound of a vaguely familiar sleigh-bell, she
exclaimed "Oh, yes! Lara's theme! as if, say, Quilty had sung it in drag
in Kubrick's "Lolita."
* Then there are the Russians: a Ukrainian, whose excuse for being in
Montreux was that he was presumably once assistant soccer coach, who had
posted himself at my parents' grave, much in the manner of a Neapolitan
"posteggiatore." When Serena Vitale and I visited the grave he began,
probably in hope of a handout, a discourse on having seen "Nabokov's" show
in Russia - in this case, Albee's fairy-tale travesty, much milked, mainly
in Russia, for the VN name. When I "outed" myself as being his son, he
assumed a mystical tone and kept repeating (when the inevitable pedophile
issue came up), "Nabokov had his agenda", without batting an eyelash (I
may be wrong about the batting, for his eyes were mystically glued to the
ground). Or that other Russian, a Sorbenne "conferee", who belabored the
_Lolita_ first-person issue in the melee following my final talk with such
insistance that I had to threaten to throw him physically off the stage if
he didn't shut up.
* The point of all this, besides letting off some steam, is to say that
one should be beware of making assumptions. While Father did praise the
art of Baltus, he was not on the same frequency as Balthus, or David
Hamilton, or Lewis Carrol - and not only because the latter four worked in
the graphic medium. It would, however, be risky to assume assume that they
were less detached. Insofar as Balthus's work goes, the types he favored
rarely connected with Nabokov's concept. Having belatedly survived a
protest by a ladies' virtue league because a miniscule triangle of panties
was in sight, the Balthus girl we did use for _Lolita_ has just been
replaced at Penguin by a modern, photographic image of a tastefully sexy
girl of the right age and type, to my hearty approval.
To take as an example Palm Beach, to whose culture I am exposed twice a
year, I frequently encounter examples like the following:
* A hostess at a party of which I was supposedly guest of honor proudly
announcing that she had seen my Father's show _Evita_ (surprisingly
literate husband hoarsely whispering "Shut up, Mrs Malaprop!"
* Another Palm Beach lady, sustained by a thin "European" patina (French
Tunisian, dressed to kill) declaring in 1995 or so, after acquaintance
with me of some eighteen years, that she was "vraiment surprise, mais
vraiment" upon learning a few days before (second-hand and vaguely) about
the subject of _Lolita_.
* A TV hostess who believed her extreme Anny-Fanny sexiness absolves her
of the need to read, to whom, in the course of an interview whose tape I
hope went from the can into the can, I illustrated the superficiality of
knowledge by saying that many thought they had learned Russian history if
they had so much as a recollection of "Lara's theme" from a film based
on that notorious pro-Soviet wool-puller _Dr. Zhivago_. Lighting up like a
Columbian balloon at that sound of a vaguely familiar sleigh-bell, she
exclaimed "Oh, yes! Lara's theme! as if, say, Quilty had sung it in drag
in Kubrick's "Lolita."
* Then there are the Russians: a Ukrainian, whose excuse for being in
Montreux was that he was presumably once assistant soccer coach, who had
posted himself at my parents' grave, much in the manner of a Neapolitan
"posteggiatore." When Serena Vitale and I visited the grave he began,
probably in hope of a handout, a discourse on having seen "Nabokov's" show
in Russia - in this case, Albee's fairy-tale travesty, much milked, mainly
in Russia, for the VN name. When I "outed" myself as being his son, he
assumed a mystical tone and kept repeating (when the inevitable pedophile
issue came up), "Nabokov had his agenda", without batting an eyelash (I
may be wrong about the batting, for his eyes were mystically glued to the
ground). Or that other Russian, a Sorbenne "conferee", who belabored the
_Lolita_ first-person issue in the melee following my final talk with such
insistance that I had to threaten to throw him physically off the stage if
he didn't shut up.
* The point of all this, besides letting off some steam, is to say that
one should be beware of making assumptions. While Father did praise the
art of Baltus, he was not on the same frequency as Balthus, or David
Hamilton, or Lewis Carrol - and not only because the latter four worked in
the graphic medium. It would, however, be risky to assume assume that they
were less detached. Insofar as Balthus's work goes, the types he favored
rarely connected with Nabokov's concept. Having belatedly survived a
protest by a ladies' virtue league because a miniscule triangle of panties
was in sight, the Balthus girl we did use for _Lolita_ has just been
replaced at Penguin by a modern, photographic image of a tastefully sexy
girl of the right age and type, to my hearty approval.