Subject
Don Aminado & VN
Date
Body
Contemporaneous accounts of Nabokov the Russian writer are split between
those referring to him as the outstanding younger writer of the
emigration and those who saw him as a most un-Russian writer with limited
appeal to his Russian readers. I chanced across a reference that may be of interest.
Don Aminado (psdnm. of Arminad Petrovich Shpolyansky 1888-1957) was a very
popular poet in the Parisian Russian emigre press. Although now seen
(if at all)
as a writer of light verse, some, including Marina Tsvetaeva, thought
highly of his work. Near the end of his life Don Aminado wrote a charming
autobiography called _Poezd na tret'em puti_ (Train on the Third Track,
1954). In his discussion of the venerable journal _Sovremennye zapiski_
(Contemporary Annals), he enumerates the many emigre writers who published
in the journal and mentions VN in passing: "The appearance of the young
writer Vl. Sirin led to passionate arguments. Cultured ladies read his
_Invitation to a Beheading_ in a gulp (zapoem) and swore with tears in their
eyes that they understood and comprehended everything."
Many emigre comments about VN are colored by his later "stardom,"
but Don Aminado's wry comment (circa 1952) predates VN's world fame.
D. Barton Johnson
Department of Germanic, Slavic and Semitic Studies
Phelps Hall
University of California at Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106
Phone and Fax: (805) 687-1825
Home Phone: (805) 682-4618
those referring to him as the outstanding younger writer of the
emigration and those who saw him as a most un-Russian writer with limited
appeal to his Russian readers. I chanced across a reference that may be of interest.
Don Aminado (psdnm. of Arminad Petrovich Shpolyansky 1888-1957) was a very
popular poet in the Parisian Russian emigre press. Although now seen
(if at all)
as a writer of light verse, some, including Marina Tsvetaeva, thought
highly of his work. Near the end of his life Don Aminado wrote a charming
autobiography called _Poezd na tret'em puti_ (Train on the Third Track,
1954). In his discussion of the venerable journal _Sovremennye zapiski_
(Contemporary Annals), he enumerates the many emigre writers who published
in the journal and mentions VN in passing: "The appearance of the young
writer Vl. Sirin led to passionate arguments. Cultured ladies read his
_Invitation to a Beheading_ in a gulp (zapoem) and swore with tears in their
eyes that they understood and comprehended everything."
Many emigre comments about VN are colored by his later "stardom,"
but Don Aminado's wry comment (circa 1952) predates VN's world fame.
D. Barton Johnson
Department of Germanic, Slavic and Semitic Studies
Phelps Hall
University of California at Santa Barbara
Santa Barbara, CA 93106
Phone and Fax: (805) 687-1825
Home Phone: (805) 682-4618