Subject
Re: Two or Three in LATH
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Date
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A. Sklyarenko: " The two or three small diamonds that I kept in a chamois pouch melted away faster than hailstones." (1.2)
Jansy Mello: Vadim's casual record of riches (he kept "two or three" diamonds in a pouch) made me instantly remember another equally vague counting procedure, also present in LATH, right at the first paragraph: " I met the first of my three or four successive wives in somewhat odd circumstances, the development of which resembled a clumsy conspiracy..." Further on he will indicate his "two or three compositions," but then his imprecision wouldn't be so striking ( "I was, in those days, naively opposed to any kind of translation, partly because my attempts to turn two or three of my first compositions into my own English had resulted in a feeling of morbid revolt - and in maddening headaches.").
However this parallel might serve to indicate that, for him, diamonds, wives and translations of early works were transient experiences.
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Jansy Mello: Vadim's casual record of riches (he kept "two or three" diamonds in a pouch) made me instantly remember another equally vague counting procedure, also present in LATH, right at the first paragraph: " I met the first of my three or four successive wives in somewhat odd circumstances, the development of which resembled a clumsy conspiracy..." Further on he will indicate his "two or three compositions," but then his imprecision wouldn't be so striking ( "I was, in those days, naively opposed to any kind of translation, partly because my attempts to turn two or three of my first compositions into my own English had resulted in a feeling of morbid revolt - and in maddening headaches.").
However this parallel might serve to indicate that, for him, diamonds, wives and translations of early works were transient experiences.
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/