Subject
Re: Back to Bruce Stone:" Editorial In(ter)ference: Errata and
Aporia in Lolita"
Aporia in Lolita"
From
Date
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Jansy, your comments about searching for the "real" within VN's fiction are
intriguing! In the statement about "coming before himself," HH seems to be
imagining himself as a criminal court judge sitting in judgment of a
rapist. Do you see a hint in this sentence ("...I would have given Humbert
at least thirty-five years for rape, and dismissed the rest of the
charges...") that perhaps the murder of Quilty is "imaginary" after all?
What judge worth his/her salt would nonchalantly dismiss a murder
(generally considered the most serious crime of all)?
On Sun, Mar 11, 2012 at 8:49 AM, Jansy <jansy@aetern.us> wrote:
> **
> According to Bruce Stone, one of John Ray's pomposities is "the
> too-precious and antiquated verb 'preambulates'."
> In the word prologue (foreword) and in the epilogue (afterword) there's an
> indication of that which is being spoken, as in a play, or in a written in
> a text.
> The same seems to be the case for "preface" (pre + phanai,"speak", phasis,
> "word").The ambiguity that Bruce Stone noticed in John Ray's preamble ["'Lolita,
> or the Confession of a White Widowed Male,' such were the two titles under
> which the writer of the present note received the strange pages it *
> preambulate*s"] may become more glaring because the passage from a noun
> to a verb in this case gets problematic once we realize that, unlike
> "prologue" and "preface" (dealing with "words") the meaning of "ambulate"
> is "walk." (literally, to use a pair of legs to move around). John Ray *walks
> ahead of himself* just like Humbert Humbert *comes before himself*?*
> So much for impossible figures...
> Besides, the "preamble" usually points to a lawyer's introductory
> formalities to a decree, right?. In "Lolita" the lawyer in question must be
> JR Jr's cousin, not Jr himself. Strange....
>
> (Jansy)
>
>
> ..................................................................................................................................................................
> * - "Had I come before myself, I would have given Humbert at least
> thirty-five years for rape, and dismissed the rest of the charges..."
> Google Search the archive<http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en> Contact
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>
--
Norky
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intriguing! In the statement about "coming before himself," HH seems to be
imagining himself as a criminal court judge sitting in judgment of a
rapist. Do you see a hint in this sentence ("...I would have given Humbert
at least thirty-five years for rape, and dismissed the rest of the
charges...") that perhaps the murder of Quilty is "imaginary" after all?
What judge worth his/her salt would nonchalantly dismiss a murder
(generally considered the most serious crime of all)?
On Sun, Mar 11, 2012 at 8:49 AM, Jansy <jansy@aetern.us> wrote:
> **
> According to Bruce Stone, one of John Ray's pomposities is "the
> too-precious and antiquated verb 'preambulates'."
> In the word prologue (foreword) and in the epilogue (afterword) there's an
> indication of that which is being spoken, as in a play, or in a written in
> a text.
> The same seems to be the case for "preface" (pre + phanai,"speak", phasis,
> "word").The ambiguity that Bruce Stone noticed in John Ray's preamble ["'Lolita,
> or the Confession of a White Widowed Male,' such were the two titles under
> which the writer of the present note received the strange pages it *
> preambulate*s"] may become more glaring because the passage from a noun
> to a verb in this case gets problematic once we realize that, unlike
> "prologue" and "preface" (dealing with "words") the meaning of "ambulate"
> is "walk." (literally, to use a pair of legs to move around). John Ray *walks
> ahead of himself* just like Humbert Humbert *comes before himself*?*
> So much for impossible figures...
> Besides, the "preamble" usually points to a lawyer's introductory
> formalities to a decree, right?. In "Lolita" the lawyer in question must be
> JR Jr's cousin, not Jr himself. Strange....
>
> (Jansy)
>
>
> ..................................................................................................................................................................
> * - "Had I come before myself, I would have given Humbert at least
> thirty-five years for rape, and dismissed the rest of the charges..."
> Google Search the archive<http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en> Contact
> the Editors <nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu> Visit "Nabokov
> Online Journal" <http://www.nabokovonline.com> Visit Zembla<http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm> View
> Nabokv-L Policies <http://web.utk.edu/%7Esblackwe/EDNote.htm> Manage
> subscription options <http://listserv.ucsb.edu/> Visit AdaOnline<http://www.ada.auckland.ac.nz/> View
> NSJ Ada Annotations <http://vnjapan.org/main/ada/index.html> Temporary
> L-Soft Search the archive<https://listserv.ucsb.edu/lsv-cgi-bin/wa?A0=NABOKV-L&X=58B9943B29972AFF64&Y=nabokv-l%40utk.edu>
>
> ****All private editorial communications are read by both co-editors.
>
--
Norky
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
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Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/