Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0013324, Tue, 19 Sep 2006 18:42:38 -0400

Subject
Re: Emailing: shortguide-pale-fire
From
Date
Body
DBJ: on the bright side, though, it would seem that a growing number of
our
more 'mature' students _are_ being exposed to the challenges of 'Pale
Fire.'
Such 'quick-cram' guides, of course, have for long been a mixed
blessing. Over
60 years ago I recall finding similar pre-exam 'props' useful -- such as
'Hamlet
in Half-an-Hour!' The key is whether the exams demand and reward a
thorough
(tedious!) reading of the target text. The onus, I suppose, is on
academe to
identify the lazy candidates who rely solely or mainly on the pre-canned
cliches
of the 'Instant Nabokov' guides.

Honesty-in-advertising is indeed a rare commodity in educational
publishing. I
still feel faint after falling for "Hungarian Made Easy!"

Stan Kelly-Bootle.

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