Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0009142, Mon, 12 Jan 2004 15:45:22 -0800

Subject
Fw: Fw: creepy thoughts on ADA
Date
Body
----- Original Message -----
From: "Julia Sky" <juliasky@inbox.ru>
To: "Vladimir Nabokov Forum" <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (32
lines) ------------------
> Thank you Dane for your intrepid question!
> A question, What For? also occupies me for quite a time. Actually, in
> STANDARD novels the theme of defecation, etc. is a taboo, and Ada is not
> standard. The scene you are writing about is in part 2, chapter 3. There
are
> some more things of that kind e.g. the very end of part 4: Van welcomed
the
> renewal of polished structures after a week of black fudge fouling the
bowl
> slope so high that no amount of flushing could dislodge it (p 441 in
Penguin
> classics' book). Or else, part 1 chapter 38: "Tranquilly, innocently,
side
> by side in their separately ordained attitudes, they added a trickle and a
> gush to the more professional sounds of the rain in the night:" (p 208).
>
> My idea is that for the scene in Villa Venus we can look for explanation
> starting from demons and their hidden flaws in The Gift / DAR (sorry I
have
> only Russian text of the novel): мир прекрасных демонов; но в прекрасном
> демоне есть всегда тайный изъян, стыдная бородавка на заду у подобия
> совершенства; лакированным лакомкам реклам, объедающимся желатином, не
знать
> тихих отрад гастронома (New York, 1952, p 20) (I wouldn't dare translate
VN
> myself)
>
> "Polished structures" appear to be an answer to structuralism theory,
aren'
> t they?
>
> Those who study Ada tend to avoid these greasy places but why shouldn't we
> try to find out the reason of their existence? And one more thing for
> bilingual readers, Akhmatova wrote: <когда б вы знали, из какого сора
> растут стихи, не ведая стыда>, a pop-star echoed <я тебя слепила из того,
> что было, а потом что было, то и полюбила>.
>
> Sincerely, JS.
>
>
>