Zimmer am Maar

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

Sent: Tuesday, April 13, 2004 4:12 PM

Subject: Zimmer am Maar

Does one (do I?) dare to say this to the List? Perhaps from a literary point of view there is no question of plagiarism, but legally? I wonder. Only a trial (and I do think there are grounds) would decide the question legally. I certainly hope it doesn't come to that.

Professor Zimmer writes

In the name of intertextuality [Maar] should have presented his nice find in a manner that would have prevented everybody but the boldest blockheads from getting it the wrong way. That is, he should not have emphasized the vague parallels between v.Lichberg's and Nabokov's "Lolita" without emphasizing the much greater differences, even as far as the basic plot is concerned.

"Nice find"? Surely it is more than that. "Vague parallels"? They really are more than that. Had Professor Zimmer himself made the "nice find" he could have treated it as he liked. But I don't think he is right to chide Mr Maar. I think Michael Maar has made an important discovery and I think he has handled it very well, and I congratulate him on both counts. I hope someone will take this seriously. It could lead to very important understanding of Nabokov's genius.* Too bad that Professor Zimmer is so dismissive. I hope someone else with a good knowledge of German literature and Nabokov's work will do more research. I hope I am not alone among the List members in congratulating Michael Maar on a really important find, handled very well indeed. Carolyn * The great student of gypsy life, Walter Starkie, heard a gypsy in the Balkans play the scrappy tune that he immediately recognized was the base original on which Beethoven created one of the glories of melody (opening of his 6th symphony). I heard Professor Starkie play that forgettable tune at UCLA many years ago, and it only lead me to appreciate Beethoven's genius more.