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Re: certicle storms in Ada
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C. Kunin: I don't know that Nabokov differentiated between Pasternak as a prose or poetry writer...If Mary Efremov is correct (and I have no idea where she got her ideas from) then it was a politically based hatred. Well, wait and see what the List can come up with.
J.Mello: I remembered that VN spoke positively about Pasternak's poetry in Strong Opinions but, instead of opening my copy, I googled it and got a few surprises [ ].
Brian Tombe: In a 1972 interview (reproduced in Strong Opinions), Nabokov did distinguish between Pasternak the poet and Pasternak the prose writer [ ].
Jansy Mello: Following the complete quote from SO provided by B.Tombe, we may well recognize Nabokov's "politically based hatred" and his awareness of how stung he felt by the publicitary maneuvers which, in his eyes, backed Pasternak's success ("... I could well imagine a pack of writers emulating my "eccentric" outspokenness and causing, in the long run, sales to drop, thus thwarting the Bolshevists in their hopes and making their hostage more vulnerable than ever...one point that might have made me change my mind and write that devastating review after all-- the exhilarating prospect of seeing it attributed to competitive chagrin by some ass or goose[ ] Any intelligent Russian would see at once that the book is pro-Bolshevist and historically false, if only because it ignores the Liberal Revolution of spring, 1917, while making the saintly doctor accept with delirious joy the Bolshevist coup d'etat seven months later-- all of which is in keeping with the party line. Leaving out politics, I regard the book as a sorry thing[ ] When the novel appeared in America, her left-wing idealists were delighted to discover in it a proof that "a great book" could be produced after all under the Soviet rule. It was for them the triumph of Leninism. They were comforted by the fact that for better or worse its author remained on the side of angelic Old Bolsheviks and that nothing in his book even remotely smacked of the true exile's indomitable contempt for the beastly regime engendered by Lenin.") He did find qualities in it,even though his praise of Pasternak was indirect: "In Dr. Zhivago, however, the prose does not live up to his poetry. Here and there, in a landscape or simile, one can distinguish, perhaps, faint echoes of his poetical voice..."
After following the E.Wilson/Volodya epistolary exchanges, just to bring up an example, one may come to realize how bitterly he resented "the triumph of Leninism" among America's "left-wing idealists," because in this special case we can witness how unwavering his friend E.Wilson's admiration of Lenin remained inspite of all his disuasive efforts and multidimensional anger. Why VN equally vented his rage against Dr.Schweitzer, or Dr.Freud, however, remains a mystery to me.
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J.Mello: I remembered that VN spoke positively about Pasternak's poetry in Strong Opinions but, instead of opening my copy, I googled it and got a few surprises [ ].
Brian Tombe: In a 1972 interview (reproduced in Strong Opinions), Nabokov did distinguish between Pasternak the poet and Pasternak the prose writer [ ].
Jansy Mello: Following the complete quote from SO provided by B.Tombe, we may well recognize Nabokov's "politically based hatred" and his awareness of how stung he felt by the publicitary maneuvers which, in his eyes, backed Pasternak's success ("... I could well imagine a pack of writers emulating my "eccentric" outspokenness and causing, in the long run, sales to drop, thus thwarting the Bolshevists in their hopes and making their hostage more vulnerable than ever...one point that might have made me change my mind and write that devastating review after all-- the exhilarating prospect of seeing it attributed to competitive chagrin by some ass or goose[ ] Any intelligent Russian would see at once that the book is pro-Bolshevist and historically false, if only because it ignores the Liberal Revolution of spring, 1917, while making the saintly doctor accept with delirious joy the Bolshevist coup d'etat seven months later-- all of which is in keeping with the party line. Leaving out politics, I regard the book as a sorry thing[ ] When the novel appeared in America, her left-wing idealists were delighted to discover in it a proof that "a great book" could be produced after all under the Soviet rule. It was for them the triumph of Leninism. They were comforted by the fact that for better or worse its author remained on the side of angelic Old Bolsheviks and that nothing in his book even remotely smacked of the true exile's indomitable contempt for the beastly regime engendered by Lenin.") He did find qualities in it,even though his praise of Pasternak was indirect: "In Dr. Zhivago, however, the prose does not live up to his poetry. Here and there, in a landscape or simile, one can distinguish, perhaps, faint echoes of his poetical voice..."
After following the E.Wilson/Volodya epistolary exchanges, just to bring up an example, one may come to realize how bitterly he resented "the triumph of Leninism" among America's "left-wing idealists," because in this special case we can witness how unwavering his friend E.Wilson's admiration of Lenin remained inspite of all his disuasive efforts and multidimensional anger. Why VN equally vented his rage against Dr.Schweitzer, or Dr.Freud, however, remains a mystery to me.
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/