----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, December 21, 2004 11:50
PM
Subject: Fwd: Re: B.Boyd´s "Nabokov´s
ADA" /Morio and Moore
----- Forwarded message from a-nakata@courante.plala.or.jp
-----
Date: Wed, 22 Dec 2004 08:02:18
+0900
From: Akiko Nakata <a-nakata@courante.plala.or.jp>
Dear
Jansy and List,
Thank you, Jansy, for raising such a grave issue
that could be comparable
to the one concerning the reality/fiction of
*Lolita* II. 27 (or II. 22) to
the end.
If HP does not strangle
Armande and nearly a half of the work (except Chs.
4-19) is his or someone
else's dreams, the meaning of the novella must be
completely different. So
far, I simply believe HP unintentionally but
actually kills Armande and at
the end he is experiencing the pangs necessary
to go into the world after
death so that the end of the last chapter leads
to the beginning of the
first chapter. If HP should be awakening from his
last nightmare (or
someone else's dream) into the "real" world, I could not
understand the
first chapter as well as the structure of the novella. I
think TT is full
of fragmental memories and dreams, about most of which we
are not certain
who remembers or dreams, but all are not dreams.
On the other hand, I
have some questions still unanswered and your
interpretation would solve
some of them. For example, the unreasonable facts
about HP's imprisonment
and treatment in a mental hospital about which Mr.
R. asks in his last
letter. And if all is his dreams, that parallels "the
supposition that
'reality' might be only a 'dream'" (Ch. 24), i. e., the
mysterious chapter
could be the clue to the whole TT.
And I would like to
ask--
>4. While still a student, Hugh would already have been
suffering from a
jealous rage, such as Napoleon´s might have been
because..
did not Bonaparte´s second wife Marie Louise betray him and bear
two
children from Count Neipperg? ( please correct me,
Historians!)
Who was Hugh jealous about then?
Would HP suffer from a
jealous rage before he met Armande? As far as we
know, his nightmares are
erotic and sadistic, but could not be called
"jealous" even after he
marries Armande -- of course, you could interpret
them (as an expert!) as
his suppressed raging jealousy. And in Ch. 7, I
think the spirit of
Napoleon gets furious because he remembers enduring
humiliation in St.
Helena. I might be too short-sighted.
If we include in the Moore
discussion Brian Boyd's recently published
article "*ADA*, the Bog and the
Garden," (NS #8) it would be more
complicated. Is "Moore" also connected
with "peat bog," Brian? (I am sorry
if I missed something when I read the
article).
Best,
Akiko
----- Original Message
-----
From: Jansy Berndt de Souza Mello
To: Vladimir
Nabokov Forum
Sent: Tuesday, December 21, 2004 3:03 AM
Subject: B.Boyd´s "Nabokov´s ADA" /Morio and Moore
Dear
Akiko and List,
B. Boyd writes in his introduction to "Nabokov´s
Ada - The Place of
Consciousness" ( I only managed to secure a copy of it
today!):
"After working out the reason for the sudden appearance
of horse and groom
(...) we would next seek to explain the names Van has
given his invented
horse and groom". ( Moiro/ Moore).
"There
is a simple, immediately-offered solution for the Morio-Moore sound
play
(...) your Moore is in fact an anagram of Romeo, and with
this
Shakespearean hint black Morio points towards Othello, the blackamoor
Iago
calls " a Barbary horse" (...)
Van (...) leaves the
young Romeo behind and charges off on a black steed
reminiscent of Othello:
"Ardis the First" is comparable in freshness and
lyric radiance of its
young love only to Romeo and Juliet, while the
chapters between "Ardis the
First" and "Ardis the Second" (...) are marked
by the ever-deepening
shadow of potentially violent jealousy..."
After all our
conjectures about Borromeo/Moore in TT, I thought it worth
to bring up
(again?) B.Boyd´s observations about this "Moore" in Ada
as
illustrating a transition from "romantic love" to " violent
jealousy"
created by VN.
Is it possible to trace a similar
kind of pattern in TT?
The first mention to a Moore seems to be
on Ch. 7:
" As a penultimate echo came the strange case of his
struggle with a
bedside table. This was when Hugh attended college
and lodged with a fellow
student, Jack Moore ( no relation), in two rooms
of the newly built Snyder
Hall" (...)
when he "
was executing a furious war dance all by itself, as he had
seen a similar
article do at a séance when asked if the visiting spirit (
Napoleon) missed
the springtime sunsets of St. Helena".
1. Jack Moore has "no
relation" to any of the various Swiss Jacks, to
sculptor Henry Moore, to
Julia Moore.
2. Jack rescues Hugh from his "penultimate"
instance ( or more precisely,
" penultimate echo") of
somnambulism.
3.The "ultimate" episode would be the one in which
Hugh strangled Armande
while still dreaming that he was rescuing her from
dropping from a NY
balcony while Hugh´s veggie nightmares and his dream
with air hostess
Armande ( that anexed the external fire as part of the
dream), before he
could reach the " mysterious mental maneuver to
pass from one state of being
to another", represented not another
somnambulic attack in a "person and the
shadows of related matter" on the
brink of a "new being" but maintained the
transparent quality of dream and
awakening.
4. While still a student, Hugh would already have
been suffering from a
jealous rage, such as Napoleon´s might have
been because..
did not Bonaparte´s second wife Marie Louise
betray him and bear two
children from Count Neipperg? ( please
correct me, Historians!)
Who was Hugh jealous about
then?
5. If the circumstances of Hugh´s death were taken as a
kind of
somnambulic attack , then this would mean that he could not have
strangled
Armande in the first place - as all the elements in the novel (
plus our
good-sense ) indicate. And yet, the mixture between reality and
dream ( for
Hugh and in the eyes of the reader as well) seem to be present
in all these
episodes.
Sorry to return to the same issues
we´ve been discussing but I still feel
in the clasp of someone else´s
dream.
Jansy
----- End forwarded message -----
Dear Jansy and List,
Thank you, Jansy, for raising such a grave issue that
could be comparable to the one concerning the reality/fiction
of *Lolita* II. 27 (or II. 22) to the end.
If HP does not strangle Armande and nearly a half of
the work (except Chs. 4-19) is his or someone else's dreams, the meaning
of the novella must be completely different. So far, I simply
believe HP unintentionally but actually kills Armande
and at the end he is experiencing the pangs necessary to go
into the world after death so that the end of the last chapter leads to
the beginning of the first chapter. If HP should be awakening
from his last nightmare (or someone else's dream) into the "real"
world, I could not understand the first chapter as well as the
structure of the novella. I think TT is full of fragmental memories and
dreams, about most of which we are not certain who remembers or dreams,
but all are not dreams.
On the other hand, I have some questions still unanswered and your
interpretation would solve some of them. For example,
the unreasonable facts about HP's imprisonment and treatment in a
mental hospital about which Mr. R. asks in his last letter.
And if all is his dreams, that parallels "the
supposition that 'reality' might be only a 'dream'" (Ch. 24), i. e.,
the mysterious chapter could be the clue to the whole TT.
And I would like to ask--
>4. While still a student, Hugh would already have
been suffering from a jealous rage, such as Napoleon´s might have
been because..
did not
Bonaparte´s second wife Marie Louise betray him and bear two
children from Count Neipperg? ( please correct me,
Historians!)
Who was Hugh jealous about
then?
Would HP suffer from a jealous rage before he met Armande? As
far as we know, his nightmares are erotic and sadistic, but could not be
called "jealous" even after he marries Armande -- of course, you could
interpret them (as an expert!) as his suppressed raging jealousy.
And in Ch. 7, I think the spirit of Napoleon gets furious
because he remembers enduring humiliation in St. Helena. I
might be too short-sighted.
If we include in the Moore discussion Brian
Boyd's recently published article "*ADA*, the Bog and the Garden,"
(NS #8) it would be more complicated. Is "Moore" also connected with
"peat bog," Brian? (I am sorry if I missed something when I read the
article).
Best,
Akiko
----- Original Message -----
Sent: Tuesday, December 21, 2004 3:03 AM
Subject: B.Boyd´s "Nabokov´s ADA" /Morio and Moore
Dear Akiko and List,
B. Boyd writes in his introduction to
"Nabokov´s Ada - The Place of Consciousness" ( I only managed to secure a
copy of it today!):
"After working out the reason for the sudden
appearance of horse and groom (...) we would next seek to explain the names
Van has given his invented horse and groom". (
Moiro/ Moore).
"There is a simple, immediately-offered
solution for the Morio-Moore sound play (...) your Moore is in fact an
anagram of Romeo, and with this Shakespearean hint black Morio points
towards Othello, the blackamoor Iago calls " a Barbary horse" (...)
Van (...) leaves the young Romeo behind and
charges off on a black steed reminiscent of Othello: "Ardis the First"
is comparable in freshness and lyric radiance of its young love only to
Romeo and Juliet, while the chapters between "Ardis the First" and "Ardis
the Second" (...) are marked by the
ever-deepening shadow of potentially violent jealousy..."
After all our conjectures about Borromeo/Moore
in TT, I thought it worth to bring up (again?) B.Boyd´s
observations about this "Moore" in Ada as illustrating a
transition from "romantic love" to " violent jealousy" created by
VN.
Is it possible to trace a similar kind of
pattern in TT?
The first mention to a Moore seems to be on Ch.
7:
" As a penultimate echo came the strange case of his struggle with a bedside table.
This was when Hugh attended college and lodged with a fellow student, Jack
Moore ( no relation), in two rooms of the newly built Snyder Hall"
(...)
when he " was executing a furious war dance all by
itself, as he had seen a similar article do at a séance when asked if the
visiting spirit ( Napoleon) missed the springtime sunsets of St.
Helena".
1. Jack Moore has "no relation" to any of the
various Swiss Jacks, to sculptor Henry Moore, to Julia Moore.
2. Jack rescues Hugh from his
"penultimate" instance ( or more precisely, " penultimate echo") of
somnambulism.
3.The "ultimate" episode would be the one
in which Hugh strangled Armande while still dreaming that he was
rescuing her from dropping from a NY balcony while Hugh´s veggie nightmares and his dream with air
hostess Armande ( that anexed the external fire as part of the
dream), before he could reach the " mysterious mental maneuver to
pass from one state of being to another", represented not another
somnambulic attack in a "person and the shadows of related matter" on
the brink of a "new being" but maintained the transparent quality
of dream and awakening.
4. While still a student, Hugh would already
have been suffering from a jealous rage, such as Napoleon´s might
have been because..
did not
Bonaparte´s second wife Marie Louise betray him and bear two
children from Count Neipperg? ( please correct me,
Historians!)
Who was Hugh jealous
about then?
5. If the circumstances of Hugh´s death
were taken as a kind of somnambulic attack , then this would mean
that he could not have strangled Armande in the first place - as all
the elements in the novel ( plus our good-sense )
indicate. And yet, the mixture between reality and dream ( for
Hugh and in the eyes of the reader as well) seem to be present in
all these episodes.
Sorry to return to the same issues we´ve been
discussing but I still feel in the clasp of someone else´s
dream.
Jansy