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Re: READING SUGGESTIONS (fwd)
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From: Mary Bellino <iambe@javanet.com>
One February, very much like this one but about ten years ago, with the
same snowstorm outside and the same interminable cold-or-flu inside, I
read through the entire four volumes of Nabokov's Onegin commentary
over a series of several evenings (and some days). I recommend the
experience highly; it converted me from a casual to a serious
Nabokovian, but beyond that, it was extremely enjoyable. The commentary
is as good as a novel, and can be read as one without straining too
much-- think of it as "Pushkin Shandy" or "In Search of Pushkin's Lost
Time". Or you may prefer to think of it as an intellectual autobiography
(or a parody of one). It may also be the closest we can come to hearing
Nabokov's "own" voice, and a very entertaining voice it is. Practically
everything interesting I know about Russia and Russian literature (as
opposed to 'the basics') --and also a lot of interesting things about
Nabokov-- I gleaned from those volumes. I look back very fondly on the
week or so I spent with them, and I guarantee you that after a hundred
pages or so you'll be completely engrossed in Nabokov's mental world and
unwilling to leave it for such trivialities as food or cough medicine.
Enjoy!
One February, very much like this one but about ten years ago, with the
same snowstorm outside and the same interminable cold-or-flu inside, I
read through the entire four volumes of Nabokov's Onegin commentary
over a series of several evenings (and some days). I recommend the
experience highly; it converted me from a casual to a serious
Nabokovian, but beyond that, it was extremely enjoyable. The commentary
is as good as a novel, and can be read as one without straining too
much-- think of it as "Pushkin Shandy" or "In Search of Pushkin's Lost
Time". Or you may prefer to think of it as an intellectual autobiography
(or a parody of one). It may also be the closest we can come to hearing
Nabokov's "own" voice, and a very entertaining voice it is. Practically
everything interesting I know about Russia and Russian literature (as
opposed to 'the basics') --and also a lot of interesting things about
Nabokov-- I gleaned from those volumes. I look back very fondly on the
week or so I spent with them, and I guarantee you that after a hundred
pages or so you'll be completely engrossed in Nabokov's mental world and
unwilling to leave it for such trivialities as food or cough medicine.
Enjoy!