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Fw: textual query re ADA
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----- Forwarded message from skylark05@mail.ru -----
Date: Thu, 14 Jul 2005 20:33:41 +0400
From: Alexey Sklyarenko <skylark05@mail.ru>
Reply-To: Alexey Sklyarenko <skylark05@mail.ru>
Subject: Fw: textual query re ADA
To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum
Dear Don, Brian and the List,
I see now that "nine p. m." is a misprint. I forgot that I can always consult
the French "Ada ou l'ardeur" and it has "vers neuf heures du matin." So, it
should be "nine a. m." after all.
As to V. D. Nabokov's birthday, it can be found not only in Robert Browder's
book, but also in Speak, Memory, p. 135 of the Penguin edition. By the way, I
never stated that VDN's birthday was July 21.
Alexey
----- Original Message -----
From: Alexey Sklyarenko
To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum
Sent: Thursday, July 14, 2005 5:47 PM
Subject: textual query re ADA
Dear List (I primarily address Brian Boyd, the main authority on the text of ADA
and other VN novels),
I have a small question about a possible misprint in ADA. The fourth paragraph
of chapter 10, Part Two, begins as follows:
"Next day, February 5, around nine p. m., Manhattan (winter) time, on the
way to Dan's lawyer, Demon noted - just as he was about to cross Alexis Avenue,
an ancient but insignificant acqaintance, Mrs. Arfour, advancing toward him,
with her toy terrier, along his side of the street."
Is not "p. m." a misprint? Perhaps it should be "a. m."? The text that follows
suggests that the day is only beginning, so it is not evening yet. We know that
Ada at twenty was a long morning sleeper, but would she sleep till nine p. m.
(and then have breakfast with Van around midnight)? I can't believe it, unless,
of course, the p. m. hours in the city of Mad Hatters (symptomatically, Demon
wears no hat) mean, at least, in winter, a morning, and the a. m. hours, an
evening. Can you please clarify this for me. Thank you in advance.
Alexey
----- End forwarded message -----