Subject
Re: George Steiner's New Yorker review of Boyd Nabokov bio
Date
Body
EDITOR's NOTE. George Steiner delivered an address to the Cambridge
Nabokov Centenary Conference last July. I assume it will appear in the
Proceedings volumes to be published by McMillan/St. Martin's next year.
His elegant talk had a decidedly mixed reaction from the audience.
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From: "Welch, Rodney" <RWelch@SCES.ORG>
I suspect you are referring to Steiner's review of Brian Boyd's The American
Years, which he referred to as "learned hagiography." The review was kind of
a peg on which Steiner hung his measured distaste for Nabokov -- although as
I recall that's the same review where he said that "Pale Fire" is VN's "true
magnum opus." He wasn't completely critical. For what it's worth, Nabokov
had little use for Steiner, whom he chided for some reason or other in (I
think) his responses to the Tri-Quarterly issue honoring Nabokov's 70th
birthday.
Rodney Welch
Nabokov Centenary Conference last July. I assume it will appear in the
Proceedings volumes to be published by McMillan/St. Martin's next year.
His elegant talk had a decidedly mixed reaction from the audience.
--------------------------------------------
From: "Welch, Rodney" <RWelch@SCES.ORG>
I suspect you are referring to Steiner's review of Brian Boyd's The American
Years, which he referred to as "learned hagiography." The review was kind of
a peg on which Steiner hung his measured distaste for Nabokov -- although as
I recall that's the same review where he said that "Pale Fire" is VN's "true
magnum opus." He wasn't completely critical. For what it's worth, Nabokov
had little use for Steiner, whom he chided for some reason or other in (I
think) his responses to the Tri-Quarterly issue honoring Nabokov's 70th
birthday.
Rodney Welch