Subject
Re: Auberon Waugh: Book of the Century (fwd)
Date
Body
From: Marilyn Edelstein <MEdelstein@scu.edu>
----------------- Message
Recognizing irony
requires understanding a text in context. Given that only a few choice
lines were quoted from Waugh in the original posting calling attention to
his comments, and given the sorts of odd things that have been said by
many about Nabokov, esp. recently and in relation to the release of the
Lyne/Schiff Lolita film, it's not all that surprising that some of us read
Waugh as (unfortunately serious). It's good to know he wasn't. Marilyn
Edelstein
Stephen Schiff notes:
It's a little discomfiting to find so many good Nabokovians --schooled,
presumably, in sniffing out irony, double meaning, and subtext -- sternly
tut-tutting at Waugh as though his remarks were meant to be taken at face
value.
And Charles HW notes:
In selecting a few excerpts from his article I was not deliberately setting
out to provoke or mislead anyone, anticipating amusement rather than
high-horse indignation.
It appears to me that only one person was mislead - me.
This was a useful, but embarassing, lesson!
Brian Gross
bpg@sr.hp.com
----------------- Message
Recognizing irony
requires understanding a text in context. Given that only a few choice
lines were quoted from Waugh in the original posting calling attention to
his comments, and given the sorts of odd things that have been said by
many about Nabokov, esp. recently and in relation to the release of the
Lyne/Schiff Lolita film, it's not all that surprising that some of us read
Waugh as (unfortunately serious). It's good to know he wasn't. Marilyn
Edelstein
Stephen Schiff notes:
It's a little discomfiting to find so many good Nabokovians --schooled,
presumably, in sniffing out irony, double meaning, and subtext -- sternly
tut-tutting at Waugh as though his remarks were meant to be taken at face
value.
And Charles HW notes:
In selecting a few excerpts from his article I was not deliberately setting
out to provoke or mislead anyone, anticipating amusement rather than
high-horse indignation.
It appears to me that only one person was mislead - me.
This was a useful, but embarassing, lesson!
Brian Gross
bpg@sr.hp.com