Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0005396, Sun, 16 Jul 2000 21:09:43 -0700

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VN Bibliography: Germany
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EDITOR's NOTE. Nassim Balestrini (Balestri@mail.uni-mainz.de>, who sends the item below, is, interalia, the author of:
Berdjis, Nassim: Imagery in Vladimir Nabokov's Last Russian Novel (Dar), Its English Translation (The Gift), and other Prose Works of the 1930s. New York: Peter Lang, 1995. Her detailed, annotated bibliography of German-language Nabokov criticism will appear in the forthcoming issue of NABOKOV STUDIES. She will be teaching at UC Davis this coming academic year.
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On 24 June 2000, the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung reported that Thomas Lehr, the author of Nabokovs Katze (1999), has received the Wolfgang-Koeppen-Prize of the city of Greifswald.

On 30 June 2000, Verena Lueken published an article entitled "Mein Onkel aus Amerika" ("My Uncle from America") in the Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung. In this article, she reviews Frances Stonor Saunders' _The Cultural War_ (The New Press) which discusses the role of writers and other artists in the CIA during the Cold War. Lueken also mentions Josef Joffe's negative review of that book in the _New York Times Book Review_. Saunders claims that Vladimir Nabokov also received payments from the CIA. She also mentions that Nicolas Nabokov was involved in CIA-sponsored activities. What is known about VN's involvement? Has anyone read Saunders's book? [Has this been discussed on the list? I simply don't remember.]

Ralph Gätke. Literarische Komik: Saki--Nabokov--Kafka. Bibliotheks- und Informationssystem der Universität Oldenburg, 1998. 43pp. This booklet is based on a talk the author gave at an event posted by the library society of Oldenburg, Germany, on 2 July 1997, the 20th anniversary of Nabokov's passing. Gätke introduces the reader to comic elements in the works of these three authors. His comments on Nabokov begin with the explanation concerning the currency of his first and last names. He then quotes from Strong Opinions and concluding that he prefers Nabokov's literary works to his criticism. Gätke explains the disappointingly weak Nabokov reception in Germany by saying that critics have, for a long time, focused on moral and political elements in literature; nowadays, however, critics are more interested in the "aesthetic potential" (17) of a writer, and the stage is set for a Nabokov "Renaissance" (17). Gätke quotes from Speak, Memory and provides an overview of Nabokov's life. Focusing on what he considers comic details, he then introduces Pnin and closes with Pnin's reappearance in Pale Fire.

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EDITOR's COMMENT. The Saunders book has been mentioned but not discussed on the list. Has anyone read it?

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