----- Original Message -----
Sent: Monday, January 06, 2003 12:44 AM
Subject: RE: Fw: Nabokov and Andrei Makine's _The Crime of Olga
Arbyelina_
I recall an interview years ago during which Makine revealed that in
order to get his first novel published, which he had originally written in
French, he claimed that it was a French translation of a Russian novel: once it
was accepted Makine felt compelled to produce that Russian "original": he
translated his French novel into Russian at great speed. If I am not mistaken,
he himself translated all his novels into Russian -quite the reverse of
VN.
My impression when reading some excerpts of Makine's was "Proust overdone
with Nabokovian themes in a minor key".
Makine's statement that he admires VN's innate sense of style and not so
much VN the aesthete or the stylist is very much saying the same thing twice:
what makes VN so genuine and original is the innateness of his style
and aestheticism, and which sets him apart from his epigones: I still have to
read one so-called or self-acclaimed disciple of VN who is utterly
convincing.
A. Bouazza.
-----------------
EDCOMMENT: I agree that Makine's statement re VN's sense of style
is a non-statement. I have only read Makin in English but my impression is that
is his language has becomeconsiderably denser between "Winter Dreams of my
Russian Summers_ and _The Crime of Olga Arbelina-.
-----Original
Message-----
From: D. Barton Johnson
[mailto:chtodel@cox.net]
Sent: Saturday, January 04, 2003 11:38
PM
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Subject: Fw: Nabokov and
Andrei Makine's _The Crime of Olga Arbyelina_
ADDENDUM. An interviewer asked Makine about his
preference for writing in Franch and his attitude toward VN. His reply: "I
live and publish in France so my choice of French is quite logical. This
said, the real language of literary creation for me is poetic language, one
that can modulate itself into any national dialect, whether it be French,
Russian, English or Chinese. It is not so much the aesthete or the stylist
that I admire in Nabokov; rather it is his innate sense of
style."
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Saturday, January 04, 2003 2:29 PM
Subject: Nabokov and Andrei Makine's _The Crime of Olga
Arbeyelina_
EDNOTE/QUERY
Makine, a Siberian Russian who emigrated to
France in his late twenties (1987), evoked comparisions to Nabokov with his
prize-winning first novel _Dreams of my Russian Summers_. The comparision is
chiefly based on the circumstance that Makin writes very well in a
second language. I gather that several of Makine's works have also been
published in Russian. I do not know whether they are "author translated" or by
some one else. If the former, it might be a further interesting parallel to VN
and of significance to those who are interested in the impact of
language A in language B.
Does anyone know whether
Makine has translated any of his own work into
Russian?