Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0006834, Sat, 21 Sep 2002 20:41:25 -0700

Subject
Fw: reply to Michael Donohue
Date
Body
----- Original Message -----
From: "Carolyn Kunin" <chaiselongue@earthlink.net>
To: "Vladimir Nabokov Forum" <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Sent: Saturday, September 21, 2002 6:21 PM
Subject: reply to Michael Donohue


> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (74
lines) ------------------
> It's not Kinbote's linguistic skills (which he would seem to have in some
> abundance) that I refer to, but his social skills, or lack thereof. The
man
> has no restraining super-ego, he's all id, that boy. How could he make it
> through an interview, let alone a class room lecture, without doing
> something bizarre? Or has Kinbote gone mad at some point? He seems to have
> always been this way, except in Zembla, his own Never Land. He is, in my
> opinion, not a possible person, but as he calls himself in his comment to
> line 1000, a figment.
>
> Carolyn Kunin
>
> > From: "D. Barton Johnson" <chtodel@cox.net>
> > Reply-To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> > Date: Sat, 21 Sep 2002 16:09:07 -0700
> > To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> > Subject: Fw: Fw: reply to Malign D
> >
> > EDITOR's NOTE. Kinbote is apparently wealthy and a good friend of a
> > trustee. Anyone who studied Russian in American colleges in the 40-50s
> > encountered Russian instructors whose qualifications were
> > quite modest.
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Michael Donohue" <michaeldonohue@hotmail.com>
> > To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> >>
> >> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (44
> > lines) ------------------
> >> C. Kunin notes: "One of the problems with Kinbote/Botkin is that
neither
> >> would be hired to teach (even at Waindell College)."
> >>
> >> Really? Judging from Nabokov's depiction of the "Russian teachers" at
> >> Cornell (who didn't know a shred of the language, relying instead on
> >> "linguistics"), you didn't exactly have to have top qualifications to
get
> > a
> >> position like Kinbote's (or Botkin's).
> >>
> >>
> >>> From: "D. Barton Johnson" <chtodel@cox.net>
> >>> Reply-To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> >>> To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> >>> Subject: Fw: reply to Malign D
> >>> Date: Sat, 21 Sep 2002 10:32:25 -0700
> >>>
> >>> ----- Original Message -----
> >>> From: "Carolyn Kunin" <chaiselongue@earthlink.net>
> >>> To: "Vladimir Nabokov Forum" <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> >>>> ---------------- Message requiring your approval (105
> >>> lines) ------------------
> >>>> Dear Malign D,
> >>>>
> >>>> I think I understand your question (but not completely). One of the
> >>>> problems with Kinbote/Botkin is that neither would be hired to teach
> >>> (even
> >>>> at Waindell College). Another thing to remember when dealing with a
> >>> complex
> >>>> riddle is to weed out the false clues. You are right, Botkin adds
> >>> nothing,
> >>>> leads nowhere & is therefore probably a false clue. The othr russian
> >>>> professor is Professor Pnin, a wonderful character from a wonnderful
> >>> earlier
> >>>> novel by Nabokov, which I think you will enjoy reading.
> >>>>
> >>>> Carolyn Kunin
> >>>>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >>
> >> _________________________________________________________________
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> >>
> >>
>
>