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Re: from Ron Rosenbaum re Pale Firings
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Brian Boyd is certainly the best authority we have to learn more about Brian Boyd's PF theory, so I read his latest message to Nab-L carefully.
I noticed that he doesn't mention anything related to Shade's ghost influencing Kinbote's hand for the synchronized appearance of Gradus, or Hazel's inspiring Kinbote's creation of Zembla. He writes about the importance of ghostly messages (the moving light in the barn) and of a girl who is unaware of her influence over different people (Browning's "Pippa Passes") Where does Hazel come into it?.
I browsed through Dieter Zimmer's translation of Fahles Feuer with the intention to find out how Nabokov suggests a translation for the moving light's message at the Haunted Barn. I had the impression that the broken words in German were different, or that they emphasized different items from the English words, perhaps even excluding "Atalanta"*).
In relation to Hazel and ghosts, Zimmer notes (FF,417): "Wirkliche Beweise für diese Lesart had Boyd nicht beigebracht. Mich überzeugt sie auch darum nicht, weil sie zu heftige Eingriffe der Geisterwelt in der Irdischen voraus-setzte."
Zimmer seems to be holding onto a letter written by Nabokov, while he was still in the process of writing "Pale Fire." In it Nabokov states that he had initially planned to name the novel "The Happy Atheist" (Der glückliche Atheist, in DZ text in German). Finally, he decided against it because he considers his novel to be "too poetical and romantic" ("aber dafür ist das Buch viel zu poetisch und romantisch...").
He adds that his aim while writing the novel has been to concentrate on the matter of pre and after-life and this is something he thinks has been elegantly solved by him.
My insufficient knowledge of the German doesn't allow me to offer a translation for Zimmer's text. There are puzzling words ("Figur") whose correct rendering might change my own interpretation and prove me to be in the wrong. Any help here (with the original text by VN, for example)?
In German we find (p.416) "Die Recherche meiner Figur konzentriert sich auf das Problem des Vor- und Nachlebens, das, wie ich sagen darf, auf schöne Weise gelöst wird." Who or what is this "Figur" (Kinbote?)
The word "gelöst" suggests to me that Nabokov considers that his novel presents the solution to a puzzle... (so now we have VN's word for the solution of a "puzzle"). Is it true?
...............................................................................................
* - I was wrong. In German the words are exactly the same. Perhaps the alteration is to be found in the French translation. I cannot find my original source about that! (so more help is enlisted to check on that!)
Search archive with Google:
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I noticed that he doesn't mention anything related to Shade's ghost influencing Kinbote's hand for the synchronized appearance of Gradus, or Hazel's inspiring Kinbote's creation of Zembla. He writes about the importance of ghostly messages (the moving light in the barn) and of a girl who is unaware of her influence over different people (Browning's "Pippa Passes") Where does Hazel come into it?.
I browsed through Dieter Zimmer's translation of Fahles Feuer with the intention to find out how Nabokov suggests a translation for the moving light's message at the Haunted Barn. I had the impression that the broken words in German were different, or that they emphasized different items from the English words, perhaps even excluding "Atalanta"*).
In relation to Hazel and ghosts, Zimmer notes (FF,417): "Wirkliche Beweise für diese Lesart had Boyd nicht beigebracht. Mich überzeugt sie auch darum nicht, weil sie zu heftige Eingriffe der Geisterwelt in der Irdischen voraus-setzte."
Zimmer seems to be holding onto a letter written by Nabokov, while he was still in the process of writing "Pale Fire." In it Nabokov states that he had initially planned to name the novel "The Happy Atheist" (Der glückliche Atheist, in DZ text in German). Finally, he decided against it because he considers his novel to be "too poetical and romantic" ("aber dafür ist das Buch viel zu poetisch und romantisch...").
He adds that his aim while writing the novel has been to concentrate on the matter of pre and after-life and this is something he thinks has been elegantly solved by him.
My insufficient knowledge of the German doesn't allow me to offer a translation for Zimmer's text. There are puzzling words ("Figur") whose correct rendering might change my own interpretation and prove me to be in the wrong. Any help here (with the original text by VN, for example)?
In German we find (p.416) "Die Recherche meiner Figur konzentriert sich auf das Problem des Vor- und Nachlebens, das, wie ich sagen darf, auf schöne Weise gelöst wird." Who or what is this "Figur" (Kinbote?)
The word "gelöst" suggests to me that Nabokov considers that his novel presents the solution to a puzzle... (so now we have VN's word for the solution of a "puzzle"). Is it true?
...............................................................................................
* - I was wrong. In German the words are exactly the same. Perhaps the alteration is to be found in the French translation. I cannot find my original source about that! (so more help is enlisted to check on that!)
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/