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THOUGHTS: Alexandrov and Ethics
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In reply to Jansy's statements, below, I note that there are many
exceptions: Mary, Glory, The Gift, Pnin, The Real Sebastian Knight,
The Return of Chorb spring to mind. The compassion is readily
accessible in all of these--sometimes overflowing. No one can read
Glory, I believe, without being struck by the tremendous warmth the
author feels for its protagonist. Critics, however, seem most
fascinated by the "crueler" works, so we hear much more about them.
The "fatidic webs," I must admit, do seem to enmesh these works--save,
perhaps, for Mary and The Gift.
Jamie McEwan
On Apr 5, 2009, at 12:04 PM, jansymello wrote:
> Nabokov's compassion in his novels is real, but accessible to any
> suffering reader only after a complicated process...
> I've always been intrigued by VN's cruel protagonists, narcisistic
> perverts, murderers, delusional psychotics,sweet alienated
> professors, vague dreamers and... his almost voiceless heroines.
> Contrary to what Nabokov expresses in his interviews and forewords,
> where he links Art to "Beauty,Tenderness, Compassion," in his novels
> he repeatedly controls his creatures - and not at all as a merciful
> deity ( not even in BS, when he intervenes as The Author and brings
> madness to Krug), but as a totalitarian God, thereby overtly
> engendering rather monstruous characters. These move in plots that
> seldom emphasize "beauty."
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exceptions: Mary, Glory, The Gift, Pnin, The Real Sebastian Knight,
The Return of Chorb spring to mind. The compassion is readily
accessible in all of these--sometimes overflowing. No one can read
Glory, I believe, without being struck by the tremendous warmth the
author feels for its protagonist. Critics, however, seem most
fascinated by the "crueler" works, so we hear much more about them.
The "fatidic webs," I must admit, do seem to enmesh these works--save,
perhaps, for Mary and The Gift.
Jamie McEwan
On Apr 5, 2009, at 12:04 PM, jansymello wrote:
> Nabokov's compassion in his novels is real, but accessible to any
> suffering reader only after a complicated process...
> I've always been intrigued by VN's cruel protagonists, narcisistic
> perverts, murderers, delusional psychotics,sweet alienated
> professors, vague dreamers and... his almost voiceless heroines.
> Contrary to what Nabokov expresses in his interviews and forewords,
> where he links Art to "Beauty,Tenderness, Compassion," in his novels
> he repeatedly controls his creatures - and not at all as a merciful
> deity ( not even in BS, when he intervenes as The Author and brings
> madness to Krug), but as a totalitarian God, thereby overtly
> engendering rather monstruous characters. These move in plots that
> seldom emphasize "beauty."
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/