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Re: bathroom talk (fwd)
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From: "D. Walker" <dlwalker@U.WASHINGTON.EDU>
Maybe this is the influence of Nabokov's English nanny. I grew up in
England where the bathroom and toilet are often separate. The latter
is often considered, and referred to as, a place of solitude.
Lynne Walker
dlwalker@u.washington.edu
On Wed, 9 Apr 1997, Galya Diment wrote:
> From Eric Naiman <naiman@violet.berkeley.edu>:
>
> > I am curious about a remark made by Luzhin when he and his wife move into
> > their new apartment. He says to her: "Gde uedinenie? -- shepnul Luzhin.
> > -- Gde samaia malen'kaia komnata?" "V vannoi, vse v vannoi". This is
> > obviously a significant moment, since it will be through that uedinenie
> > that Luzhin will exit both novel and life. My question is whether this
> > was a standard euphemism at the time (and thus, whether Nabokov is subtly
> > punning), or whether the line should jump out at the reader as markedly
> > strange. In the English this line is dropped, Luzhin just says: "Where's
> > the little place." (Native speakers whom I have questioned have never
> > heard of the term, and I don't find it in Dal'.)
> >
> >
>
Maybe this is the influence of Nabokov's English nanny. I grew up in
England where the bathroom and toilet are often separate. The latter
is often considered, and referred to as, a place of solitude.
Lynne Walker
dlwalker@u.washington.edu
On Wed, 9 Apr 1997, Galya Diment wrote:
> From Eric Naiman <naiman@violet.berkeley.edu>:
>
> > I am curious about a remark made by Luzhin when he and his wife move into
> > their new apartment. He says to her: "Gde uedinenie? -- shepnul Luzhin.
> > -- Gde samaia malen'kaia komnata?" "V vannoi, vse v vannoi". This is
> > obviously a significant moment, since it will be through that uedinenie
> > that Luzhin will exit both novel and life. My question is whether this
> > was a standard euphemism at the time (and thus, whether Nabokov is subtly
> > punning), or whether the line should jump out at the reader as markedly
> > strange. In the English this line is dropped, Luzhin just says: "Where's
> > the little place." (Native speakers whom I have questioned have never
> > heard of the term, and I don't find it in Dal'.)
> >
> >
>