Subject
Re: Braffort on NABOKV-L (fwd)
Date
Body
From: "Malcolm R. Reynolds" <reynoldsm001@hawaii.rr.com> -----------------
This is
from Malcolm Reynolds, commoner and blue-collar lover of the greatest
writer of this century. I am not a lover of "potential" literature and I
despise snobs. I apparently have signed onto the wrong list. Before I
request to have my name removed from NABOKOV-L, I would ask the "real"
contributors and the Editor if something is submitted that is not of the
superb quality of "Dark Ice" or has the incredible depth of Brian Boyd's
knowledge, it has no place here. That's what I get from the message
below. And for all the intellectuals who use "post-modern" so glibly, a
fig for you because it is a meaningless term, and the same for those who
miss the incredible humor VN put into his stuff. (And I use stuff on
purpose rather than oeuvre.) D. Barton, carry on with Paul Braffort and
vthe rest of the snobs who would rather dwell with a more select company.
Excise Malcolm Reynolds from this list.
Donald Barton Johnson wrote:
> > EDITOR'S NOTE. Paul Braffort, mathematician, computer
> > scientist, philosopher, musician/composer is a leading figure of the
> > OULIPO, a French circle devoted to the exploration of "potential"
> > literature. The group has included Raymond Queneau, Italo Calvino, and
> > Georges Perec (famous, inter alia, for his long novel _La Disparition_
> > (Eng. _VOID_) written without resort to the letter "E." Below M. Braffort
> > expresses his concern about the decline in quality of postings
> > to NABOKV-L in recent months.
> >
> > Although disagreeing about some of M. Braffort's examples, I, as editor,
> > share his feeling that the number of solid contributions has declined.
> > Perhaps it is in the nature of E-mail discussion lists. In any case such
> > an endeavour is mostly dependent upon the willingness of subscribers to
> > submit good material. NABOKV-L would be most grateful for such submission
> > and suggestions for improvements.
> >
> > ----------------- Message requiring your approval (43 lines) ------------------
> > From: Paul Braffort <Paul.Braffort@teaser.fr>
> >
> >
> > Since I subscribed to the list (in March 1997), I never contributed to the
> > discussions, only taking advantage of some interesting informations which
> > were going on on the list. But I have now the feeling that, recently, both
> > the nature of the subjects of discussions and their quality has been
> > decreasing (especially during the last six months).
> > In contrast with the splendid achievement of "Dark Ice", and other wonderful
> > pieces of scholarship, many discussions such as the authorship problem in
> > "Pale Fire" showed a surprising literary "naioveeti". I became also very
> bored
> > by all the excitement about Lynne's film (to be rated B- according to me).
> > But the worst came with a recent avalanche of clearly un-nabokovian
> > discussions about paedophilia, psychoanalysis, homosexuality, etc.. Even
> > postmodernism was mentioned... and strange attractors (I am a scientist and
> > I can certify that strange attractors have nothing to do, even
> > metaphorically, with literature)!!!
> >
> > While doing research for my book "Science et Littirature", which contains a
> > chapter about VN, I had a very pleasant correspondance with Dmitri. I was
> > uneasy when I learned about his involvement in the movie, but more deeply
> > shocked by his suing Ms Pera. Legal action against literary works has always
> > been a scandal as an admirer of Flaubert and Baudelaire like VN knew
> > perfectly well. No assesment of the aesthetic quality of the book could be
> > an argument for suing any author and I fully share Anatoly Vorobey's
> > comments on that subject.
> >
> > My interest in the list is about VN's works, his art, his philosophy, his
> > commitments in human values, and I regret that so little is said on many
> > important topics. What about "Look at the Harlequins" or "Transparent
> > Things", for example. Don't you think we had enough, for a while,
about Lolita?
--------------------
> > Paul Braffort, 7 rue Charles V, 75004 Paris, France.
> >
> > P.S.
> > 1. I take this opportunity to inform the list about an excellent film by
> > Jirtme Foulon, an adaptation of "Mademoiselle O". It was produced in 1996 by
> > France 2.
> >
> > 2. To Michael Juliar : "Jardin des plantes" only means botanical garden;
> > there is no Boschian connotation!
> >
> > 3. My book is available from "Diderot Editeur, Sciences et Arts, Paris".
> >
> >
> >
This is
from Malcolm Reynolds, commoner and blue-collar lover of the greatest
writer of this century. I am not a lover of "potential" literature and I
despise snobs. I apparently have signed onto the wrong list. Before I
request to have my name removed from NABOKOV-L, I would ask the "real"
contributors and the Editor if something is submitted that is not of the
superb quality of "Dark Ice" or has the incredible depth of Brian Boyd's
knowledge, it has no place here. That's what I get from the message
below. And for all the intellectuals who use "post-modern" so glibly, a
fig for you because it is a meaningless term, and the same for those who
miss the incredible humor VN put into his stuff. (And I use stuff on
purpose rather than oeuvre.) D. Barton, carry on with Paul Braffort and
vthe rest of the snobs who would rather dwell with a more select company.
Excise Malcolm Reynolds from this list.
Donald Barton Johnson wrote:
> > EDITOR'S NOTE. Paul Braffort, mathematician, computer
> > scientist, philosopher, musician/composer is a leading figure of the
> > OULIPO, a French circle devoted to the exploration of "potential"
> > literature. The group has included Raymond Queneau, Italo Calvino, and
> > Georges Perec (famous, inter alia, for his long novel _La Disparition_
> > (Eng. _VOID_) written without resort to the letter "E." Below M. Braffort
> > expresses his concern about the decline in quality of postings
> > to NABOKV-L in recent months.
> >
> > Although disagreeing about some of M. Braffort's examples, I, as editor,
> > share his feeling that the number of solid contributions has declined.
> > Perhaps it is in the nature of E-mail discussion lists. In any case such
> > an endeavour is mostly dependent upon the willingness of subscribers to
> > submit good material. NABOKV-L would be most grateful for such submission
> > and suggestions for improvements.
> >
> > ----------------- Message requiring your approval (43 lines) ------------------
> > From: Paul Braffort <Paul.Braffort@teaser.fr>
> >
> >
> > Since I subscribed to the list (in March 1997), I never contributed to the
> > discussions, only taking advantage of some interesting informations which
> > were going on on the list. But I have now the feeling that, recently, both
> > the nature of the subjects of discussions and their quality has been
> > decreasing (especially during the last six months).
> > In contrast with the splendid achievement of "Dark Ice", and other wonderful
> > pieces of scholarship, many discussions such as the authorship problem in
> > "Pale Fire" showed a surprising literary "naioveeti". I became also very
> bored
> > by all the excitement about Lynne's film (to be rated B- according to me).
> > But the worst came with a recent avalanche of clearly un-nabokovian
> > discussions about paedophilia, psychoanalysis, homosexuality, etc.. Even
> > postmodernism was mentioned... and strange attractors (I am a scientist and
> > I can certify that strange attractors have nothing to do, even
> > metaphorically, with literature)!!!
> >
> > While doing research for my book "Science et Littirature", which contains a
> > chapter about VN, I had a very pleasant correspondance with Dmitri. I was
> > uneasy when I learned about his involvement in the movie, but more deeply
> > shocked by his suing Ms Pera. Legal action against literary works has always
> > been a scandal as an admirer of Flaubert and Baudelaire like VN knew
> > perfectly well. No assesment of the aesthetic quality of the book could be
> > an argument for suing any author and I fully share Anatoly Vorobey's
> > comments on that subject.
> >
> > My interest in the list is about VN's works, his art, his philosophy, his
> > commitments in human values, and I regret that so little is said on many
> > important topics. What about "Look at the Harlequins" or "Transparent
> > Things", for example. Don't you think we had enough, for a while,
about Lolita?
--------------------
> > Paul Braffort, 7 rue Charles V, 75004 Paris, France.
> >
> > P.S.
> > 1. I take this opportunity to inform the list about an excellent film by
> > Jirtme Foulon, an adaptation of "Mademoiselle O". It was produced in 1996 by
> > France 2.
> >
> > 2. To Michael Juliar : "Jardin des plantes" only means botanical garden;
> > there is no Boschian connotation!
> >
> > 3. My book is available from "Diderot Editeur, Sciences et Arts, Paris".
> >
> >
> >