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Re: Fwd: Re: Nabokov's imagery
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Thanks for your note, Brian.
I'm afraid I long ago forgot all the terms and descriptions of the various
forms of imagery. Once I saw a sort of catalog of all the figures
Shakespeare used and decided then that I would never make a grammarian. As
a lifetime reader though, I know what sounds right to me. The test for me
is if it transfers me from the page to the magical place of the story;
scenery, action, the feeling of the story, the thoughts of the people. What
I think is so fine about the "steps of the chance sentence" is that it so
perfectly encapsulates the whole theme of the periods of life that the
writer and Nina shared ... and didn't share. Nobody, in my opinion, has
ever done it better than N.
A writer that does it for me now, oddly enough, is the espionage writer,
Alan Furst. If you've never read any of his wonderful books, do yourself a
favor and pick one up. I introduced him to Don and he's read them
all now; a big fan.
Best,
Phil
----- Original Message -----
From: "Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Sent: Monday, August 30, 2004 11:30 PM
Subject: Re: Fwd: Re: Nabokov's imagery
> That's a wonderful metaphor, Phil. There must be so many, but here are a
> few I noted from the early story, 'Wingstroke'. These are all similes
> simply because on another list someone was discussing similes in
> particular. They are often seen as inferior in writing circles to
> metaphors, but they have their place:
>
> 'Like a detached wing, a ski that had come off his foot was sliding down
> the hill'
>
> 'Someone's curious gaze pricked him like a needle touching the nerve of
> a tooth' (as above)
>
> 'a bluish track along which people flashed with a faint clatter,
> belly-down on their flat sleds like wooly frogs' (as above)
>
> 'Countless ski tracks flowed like shadowy hair down the shoulders of the
> snowy hills'.
>
> Brian
>
>
> On Sun, 29 Aug 2004 20:47:19 -0700, "Donald B. Johnson"
> <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu> said:
> > Let's try this again. Previous response apparently having vaporized
into
> > cyberspace; either that or unceremoniously rejected by Lord Barton.
> >
> > From "Spring in Fialta."
> >
> > "Occasionally, in the middle of a conversation her name would be
> > mentioned,
> > and she would run down the steps of a chance sentence, without turning
> > her
> > head."
> >
> > That story, for me, has always seemed to contain some of his finest
> > imagery;
> > as well as, somehow, his most heartfelt.
> >
> > Phil
> >
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
> > To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> > Sent: Tuesday, August 24, 2004 6:35 PM
> > Subject: Fwd: Nabokov's imagery
> >
> >
> > > I am sure that are many studies, but would anyone care to share any
> > > comilation of favourite metaphors, similes or other figures of speech
> > > from N's works?
> > >
> > > Brian Howell
> > >
> > > ----- End forwarded message -----
> >
> > ----- End forwarded message -----
>
> ----- End forwarded message -----
----- End forwarded message -----