KRUG, vol. I, #2 (April 2000) has
appeared.
Although much of the contents is
in Japanese, English portions of the 25 page newsletter make interesting
reading for a wider audience. The name of the publication, KRUG, is a
Nabokovian pun. The Russian word means "circle" in both the literal sense and
the metaphorical sense, i.e., a circle of friends. Nabokov uses it for the name
of the professor-protagonist of BEND SINISTER who senses the circumambient
world and, also, as the title of a story that is "circular" in that the
ending overlaps the beginning.
Table of Contents
Akira Suzuki, "Vladimir Nabokov and his Commentary
to EUGENE ONEGIN" (10pp) [1 page English abstract]
A review of the new Japanese translation of THE
DEFENSE. Review by Toshiko Miura.
Notice Board/Editorial
"Nabokov at the Crossroads" A Report on the
Cambridge Centenary Meeting (July 1999) by Shoko Miura (pp. 14-16)
"Annotations to ADA (1) by the Kyoto Reading
Circle. (pp. 17-25) In English.
This
last item is quite interesting: "The Kyoto Reading Circle, chaired by Tadashi
Wakashima, has been reading ADA since March, 1997. After devoting six years to
THE GIFT, we moved on to the late mazy masterpiece. Once a month, we meet at
Prof. Wakasima's Kyoto University office to share a blissful afternoon pondering
and discussing the novel. A few of us come from Tokyo and Hiroshima, ignoring
the differance--in American terms, it is like travelling from New York to
Chicago--for the pleasure of disentangling the thick, complex details of the
novel. The number of pages read at a time ranges from four to seven; the number
of member who gather--from three to twelve. We discuss the places which we find
are especially impressive, elusive, or allusive, i.e., very
Nabokovian."
This first installment
covers ADA's first five chapters and includes illustrations. Although
leaning heavily on Brian Boyd's annotations appearing in THE NABOKOVIAN, the
group makes a number of most enlightening observations.