----- Original Message -----

Sent: Tuesday, July 22, 2003 2:36 PM

Subject: Dmitri Nabokov's strong language

I have followed with great amusement the criticism of Dmitri Nabokov for his use of the word "scumbag." How dare he foul this lofty forum with his gutter language? But Vladimir Nabokov himself was certainly not averse to using such words - as long as they were the right words. In fact, it was VN's use of a dirty word that led me to embark on my own study of the Russian language more than twenty years ago.

A Russian-speaking friend of mine who had studied with Simon Karlinsky at Berkeley simply raved about his teaching skills. I knew nothing about Russian literature, history, language - you name it - but I filed Karlinsky's name away. One day I stumbled upon a new book edited by Karlinsky, called The Nabokov-Wilson Letters. I knew nothing about Wilson, but I knew that this Nabokov fellow had written a dirty book. So, needless to say, I investigated further!

In the last paragraph of his March 29, 1943 letter to Edmund Wilson, VN wrote: "Did you see the last ("Russian") Life? Vot govnyuki!" This last phrase was printed in indecipherable Cyrillic characters, so I referred to the footnote for the English translation, which read: "What shitheads!" I looked back at the Russian, and wondered: "Gee, wouldn't it be amusing to learn how to say that?" I consulted my friend, who told me that I could probably learn the Russian alphabet in a week. Before I knew it, I was reading Chekhov, Pushkin, and Turgenev in the original, and it gradually dawned on me that VN's choice of the word "govnyuki" for the defenders of Stalin was, if anything, mild.

One can agree or disagree with Dmitri Nabokov's strong opinions, but - as his response to his critics demonstrates - he knows exactly what he's doing when he uses strong language. It is, after all, a family tradition.