----- Original Message -----
Sent: Thursday, September 12, 2002 4:55 PM
Subject: Nabokov and Augustine
Hello all--
I had a couple of questions regarding a passage in
Mary.
First, most generally, is there any evidence that
Nabokov read Augustine's _Confessions_? I can't imagine that he missed it,
but if there is any direct evidence that would be helpful. And, did he
know Latin (even at the level of "Auden's French") or would he have read it in
Russian (or English or French) translation.
Second, what is the original Russian of the phrase
translated in chapter 2 of Mary as "dispersion of the will" (18)? Could
the phrase be a translation of and allusion to Augustine's "distentio
animi" (distension of the soul) a key element in his account of time
in Book XI of the _Confessions_ (11.14.17ff)?
Thank you all in advance,
Hanny Hindi