Dear Don ( now in NY ) and List
A special question for those who have already felt
misgivings about how the "enchanters" are seen by VN.
Although I knew that
the character in the pre-Lolita story "The Enchanter" was far from winsome
and magical, I always considered the meaning of "enchanter" as suggestive
of positive qualities.
I had in mind, particularly, VNīs own description of
the qualities found in a good writer who had to be, first of all, an
enchanter.
Now, while reading VNīs Lectures on Don Quixote I came
across the word "enchanter" used only negatively in association with
"mystification and cruelty". The enchanters were those that practiced and
enjoyed torturing someone, mainly by causing extreme mental
pain.
I doubt that VN referred to this kind of
"enchantment" when speaking about the charms of nymphet Lolita ( although
she was a deceiver i.e also an "enchanter" in the second sense of the
word ) or even when describing the play about "The
enchanted hunters" or...as the principal talent in a good writer.
Is there a clear double meaning in the Russian
word that may escape the intuitive first grasp of those that donīt speak
Russian?