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Re: [NABOKOV-LIST] [Translation]natasha
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I have not yet read the whole story. First, I was struck by that spring-ridden couch Natasha's father is laying around dying on; N. never got over that couch from the opening of Tolstoy's "Death of Ivan Illych" did he? Natasha, a gentle creature, also has a slight resemblance I thought to the wronged wife in Laughter in the Dark, doesn't she, only at a younger age? She also had a kind of empathic visionary quality. It's very poetically written, but the scene where the man and the girl go out to the country together and both turn out to be pathetic liars who are only more enchanted by their boasting, is cute but not quite convincing. I'll get back when I've finished up.
----- Original Message ----
From: Will Dane <w.e.dane@GMAIL.COM>
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Sent: Saturday, June 7, 2008 8:28:36 AM
Subject: Re: [NABOKV-L] [NABOKOV-LIST] [Translation]natasha
JM: "his (Khrenov's) hearing is acute and he fore-hears his daughter's return from the street and his neighbour's outing"
Laurence Hochard: "in addition to being a sick old man haunted by terrible memories, I wonder whether Khrenov isn't some kind of sorcerer who can "see" in a trance what is taking place now (the killings...) in the country he has left."
I wonder too if Natasha has inherited some form of her father's gift. Is her characterization of her visions as "fantasy" accurate, or is it her way of explaining the troubling visions that she has? At the end of the story, it seems that Natasha's vision of her father outside the house is not a result of active fantasizing, but rather something she is actually seeing. Her version of her father's gift may be a faulty variant, or perhaps it is an immature version (because of her youth) that will one day be as accurate as her father's.
-Will Dane
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----- Original Message ----
From: Will Dane <w.e.dane@GMAIL.COM>
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Sent: Saturday, June 7, 2008 8:28:36 AM
Subject: Re: [NABOKV-L] [NABOKOV-LIST] [Translation]natasha
JM: "his (Khrenov's) hearing is acute and he fore-hears his daughter's return from the street and his neighbour's outing"
Laurence Hochard: "in addition to being a sick old man haunted by terrible memories, I wonder whether Khrenov isn't some kind of sorcerer who can "see" in a trance what is taking place now (the killings...) in the country he has left."
I wonder too if Natasha has inherited some form of her father's gift. Is her characterization of her visions as "fantasy" accurate, or is it her way of explaining the troubling visions that she has? At the end of the story, it seems that Natasha's vision of her father outside the house is not a result of active fantasizing, but rather something she is actually seeing. Her version of her father's gift may be a faulty variant, or perhaps it is an immature version (because of her youth) that will one day be as accurate as her father's.
-Will Dane
Search the archive Contact the Editors Visit "Nabokov Online Journal"
Visit Zembla View Nabokv-L Policies Manage subscription options
All private editorial communications, without exception, are read by both co-editors.
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/