----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, April 25, 2004 6:48 PM
Subject: Re: Fw: Fw: Fw: Fw: Translation of German Lolita -- page 3
of 4
Walter Miale was wondering why riding a swan to
impress a girl would be "more poshlustich" than any other stunt. In the
opera, the knight in shining armor arrives in a swan in order to save his
girl but, before he could even ride her, was forced to
leave. That´s why it now seems to me that this reference to swan and
impressionable girls might not be related to the opera. Still, the joke concerning Wagner´s "Lohengrin" appeared in a novel
that takes place in Germany.
There´s, of course, Tchaikovski´s " Swan Lake".
And yet, it was Walter Miale, not Nabokov, who
introduced a swan at this point. Besides, Von Lichberg´s story suggests that it
was the girl who impressed the older guy and not he who tried a stunt to get
her.
Anyway, I cannot figure out
what connects this poorly written short-story to V.N. There´s the theme of
the "doubles" ( the twins) and there are doors that transport the narrator
from one reality to another. There´s even a young girl named Lolita!
But how can this be taken seriously enough to create such a fuss, that´s
the real mistery.
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Sunday, April 25, 2004 4:40 PM
Subject: Re: Fw: Fw: Fw: Translation of German Lolita -- page 3 of
4
...."the
prelude to the adventure of riding the
swan..."
What does this
mean?
EDNOTE. A good
question. The faint bells it tinkles for me are: 1) I think VN in his
GOGOL book uses the swan shtick as an an example of
"poshlost'
Yes, that's it.
Actually, I have never quite understood why hitching a ride on a swan to
impress a girl is any more poshlustish than any other foolish daredevil stunt.
. . (Would someone please tell me why this story so
epitomizes poshlust.)
There is a joke
about catching the next swan ( Lohengrin ) in "Laughter in the
Dark"
Yes, the image in Gogol, like the new text, does have the ring of
grand German opera: "And since that time a curse lies on the family. The women
all give birth to a daughter, and within weeks of their child's birth, they
always go mad. . . ." But perhaps Nabokov did not steal the image from
Lichberg; a closer reading of the texts suggests it could have been planted in
him by a ghost.
Unfortunately (speaking of "a closer reading"), I see Nabokov attributes
the story to Gogol himself, but I'll hang on to my notions like a
crackpot.
Walter Miale