Subject
A+!
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Sent to you by Fulmerford via Google Reader: A+! via nabolog by
fulmerford on 6/22/10
From Ian Frazier's Marginal:
Of special interest to readers of this magazine might be Vladimir
Nabokov’s copy of “Fifty-five Short Stories from The New Yorker,
1940-1950.” Nabokov’s handwriting (in English) was small and fluid and
precise; in books that he took exception to, such as a translation of
“Madame Bovary” by Eleanor Marx Aveling, his correcting marginalia
climbed all over the paragraphs like the tendrils of a strangler fig.
Nabokov was also a professor of literature, and in his copy of the New
Yorker anthology he gave every story a letter grade. The way he wrote
each grade in the table of contents next to the story’s title carried
the authority of one who expects that hearts will soar or plummet at
the sight of his boldly printed capital. Many of the stories did not
fare too well, and would not have got their authors into a selective
university. Top marks went to Jessamyn West’s “The Mysteries of Life in
an Orderly Manner” (A-) and Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” (A). Prof.
Nabokov awarded only two stories in the anthology an A+: “A Perfect Day
for Bananafish,” by J. D. Salinger, and “Colette,” by Vladimir
Nabokov.Read the rest at the New Yorker.
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fulmerford on 6/22/10
From Ian Frazier's Marginal:
Of special interest to readers of this magazine might be Vladimir
Nabokov’s copy of “Fifty-five Short Stories from The New Yorker,
1940-1950.” Nabokov’s handwriting (in English) was small and fluid and
precise; in books that he took exception to, such as a translation of
“Madame Bovary” by Eleanor Marx Aveling, his correcting marginalia
climbed all over the paragraphs like the tendrils of a strangler fig.
Nabokov was also a professor of literature, and in his copy of the New
Yorker anthology he gave every story a letter grade. The way he wrote
each grade in the table of contents next to the story’s title carried
the authority of one who expects that hearts will soar or plummet at
the sight of his boldly printed capital. Many of the stories did not
fare too well, and would not have got their authors into a selective
university. Top marks went to Jessamyn West’s “The Mysteries of Life in
an Orderly Manner” (A-) and Shirley Jackson’s “The Lottery” (A). Prof.
Nabokov awarded only two stories in the anthology an A+: “A Perfect Day
for Bananafish,” by J. D. Salinger, and “Colette,” by Vladimir
Nabokov.Read the rest at the New Yorker.
Things you can do from here:
- Subscribe to nabolog using Google Reader
- Get started using Google Reader to easily keep up with all your
favorite sites