Stephen Blackwell [ to Dennis Kelly "Why did Nabokov abruptly turn away upon hearing McConkey say, at a noisy party, that he liked Pnin for its compassion? Did Nabokov think otherwise? If so, why?"] [...] "It's interesting that the quoted anecdote resembles almost exactly in structure the recent NYRB piece by Jay Epstein, discussed on-list.  In both, VN receives a hopelessly general response, and simply turns away.  Is it because he wanted to teach precision of perception, thought, and expression only by example in his writings and in the classroom? Is it that he felt that turning away was itself a pedagogical answer--"You are so wrong I can't even reply; you must go back to the drawing board"?  I wonder." 

 

Jansy Mello: I couldn't agree more with the points raised by Stephen Blackwell, although I wouldn't compare the anecdote in question to Jay Epstein's answer "the two are Russian" (he must have been exerting a special kind of humor or self-mockery, no?) I vote in favor of S.B's second hypothesis on "turning away as a pedagogical answer" (if VN were speaking as a teacher, otherwise there may be a better word in lieu of "pedagogical" )..