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Re: Pushkin and Rabelais in PF
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These quotes are from two different letters (online:
http://www.rvb.ru/pushkin/01text/10letters/1815_30/01text/1830/1542_359.htmand
http://www.rvb.ru/pushkin/01text/10letters/1815_30/01text/1830/1550_367.htm
).
This is a fuller extract of the "athée du bonheur" quote; the thought is
more subtle:
Ce que vous me dites de la sympathie est bien vrai et bien délicat. Nous
sympathisons avec les malheureux par une espèce d’égoïsme: nous voyons que,
dans le fond, nous ne sommes pas les seuls. Sympathiser avec le bonheur
suppose une âme bien noble et bien désintéressée. Mais le bonheur......
c’est un grand *peut-être,* comme le disait
Rabelais<http://www.rvb.ru/pushkin/02comm/1550_367.htm#c2>du paradis
ou de l’éternité. Je suis l’athée du bonheur; je n’y crois pas,
et ce n’est qu’auprès de mes bons et anciens amis que je suis un peu
sceptique.
On Wed, May 23, 2012 at 12:29 PM, Jansy <jansy@aetern.us> wrote:
> **
> "Pushkin writes (the quote is in French): "*notre marriage semble
> toujours fuir devant moi, et cette peste avec ses quarantines n'est elle
> pas la plus mauvaise plainsanterie que le sort ai pu imaginer" [ ] "c'est
> un grand peut-être, comme le disait Rabelais du paradis ou de l'eternité.
> **Je suis l´Athée du bonheur."...*Perhaps John Shade (and Nabokov) saw
> the 'otherword' differently. Nabokov most certainly wasn't an 'athée du
> bonheur'."
>
> Actually, one of the titles that Nabokov had in mind for what later became
> "Pale Fire" was *"The Happy Atheist."** If I understand Pushkin's
> expression in French, what he means about "bonheur" and "atheist" is
> rather the opposite of Nabokov's assertion concerning his main character at
> the time. "My main creature, an ex-kingm is engaged througout Pale Fire
> in a certain quest...At first I thought of entitling my novel The Happy
> Atheist, but the book is much too poetical and romantic for that...My
> creature's quest is centered in the problem of heretofore and hereafter..."
> (from VN's selected letters)
> Google Search the archive<http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en> Contact
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>
> ****All private editorial communications are read by both co-editors.
>
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http://www.rvb.ru/pushkin/01text/10letters/1815_30/01text/1830/1542_359.htmand
http://www.rvb.ru/pushkin/01text/10letters/1815_30/01text/1830/1550_367.htm
).
This is a fuller extract of the "athée du bonheur" quote; the thought is
more subtle:
Ce que vous me dites de la sympathie est bien vrai et bien délicat. Nous
sympathisons avec les malheureux par une espèce d’égoïsme: nous voyons que,
dans le fond, nous ne sommes pas les seuls. Sympathiser avec le bonheur
suppose une âme bien noble et bien désintéressée. Mais le bonheur......
c’est un grand *peut-être,* comme le disait
Rabelais<http://www.rvb.ru/pushkin/02comm/1550_367.htm#c2>du paradis
ou de l’éternité. Je suis l’athée du bonheur; je n’y crois pas,
et ce n’est qu’auprès de mes bons et anciens amis que je suis un peu
sceptique.
On Wed, May 23, 2012 at 12:29 PM, Jansy <jansy@aetern.us> wrote:
> **
> "Pushkin writes (the quote is in French): "*notre marriage semble
> toujours fuir devant moi, et cette peste avec ses quarantines n'est elle
> pas la plus mauvaise plainsanterie que le sort ai pu imaginer" [ ] "c'est
> un grand peut-être, comme le disait Rabelais du paradis ou de l'eternité.
> **Je suis l´Athée du bonheur."...*Perhaps John Shade (and Nabokov) saw
> the 'otherword' differently. Nabokov most certainly wasn't an 'athée du
> bonheur'."
>
> Actually, one of the titles that Nabokov had in mind for what later became
> "Pale Fire" was *"The Happy Atheist."** If I understand Pushkin's
> expression in French, what he means about "bonheur" and "atheist" is
> rather the opposite of Nabokov's assertion concerning his main character at
> the time. "My main creature, an ex-kingm is engaged througout Pale Fire
> in a certain quest...At first I thought of entitling my novel The Happy
> Atheist, but the book is much too poetical and romantic for that...My
> creature's quest is centered in the problem of heretofore and hereafter..."
> (from VN's selected letters)
> 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.
>
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/