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CK back again to JF
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Dear Jerry,
> Every invention feature of the solution that you impute to
> Nabokov--do alter egos really say they are so different in age
> and appearance from their real selves, by the way?--makes the
> puzzle less fair.
My interpretation of PF is based on my recognition that Nabokov is both
scientist and literary artist and that he takes from both science and
literature in creating PF. Actually, yes, the appearance of alternate
personalities can be quite strikingly different and the first French
cases in the 19th century were documented with photographs (sorry I'd
like to be able to give a reference, but I have seen them and will
look). It's one of the reasons that roles like Eve and Sybil are such
treats for good actresses, too.
In J&H the two beings bear no resemblance to each other. Hyde is
smaller (Nabokov discusses the significance of this in his lecture).
Jekyll's friends who encounter Hyde clearly do not suspect any
relationship to their friend. Another very interesting detail is the
comparison of their hands - - Jekyll here is describing the sensation of
waking up as Hyde:
" ... my eye fell upon my hand. Now, the hand of Henry Jekyll ... was
professional in shape and size ; it was large, firm, white and comely.
But the hand which I now saw ... was lean, corded, knuckly, of a dusky
pallor, and thickly shaded with a swart growth of hair. It was the hand
of Edward Hyde."
As Brian Boyd reminded us yesterday, Gradus has hairy arms (in Russian
as in many other languages there is no distinction made between
hand/arm).
In particular, I think it needs a fairly
specific explanation of what is "really" going on in Kinbote's
interactions with the Shades. Of course, you might differ.
I do and I don't. In his lecture on J&H Nabokov discusses the
difficulties RLS had in presenting this kind of a story, and I think he
had the same difficulties. In order to convince the reader that the two
characters are separate individuals, Nabokov did have to cheat a bit.
That's how I understand the discrepancies that bother you.
CK (who the devil is CF? your mother?)
p.s. A very good question, by the way - - is Nabokov fair with the
reader? Personally I think that in PF he is and he isn't. In Ada I think
he's completely impossible.
Search the archive: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/archives/nabokv-l.html
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> Every invention feature of the solution that you impute to
> Nabokov--do alter egos really say they are so different in age
> and appearance from their real selves, by the way?--makes the
> puzzle less fair.
My interpretation of PF is based on my recognition that Nabokov is both
scientist and literary artist and that he takes from both science and
literature in creating PF. Actually, yes, the appearance of alternate
personalities can be quite strikingly different and the first French
cases in the 19th century were documented with photographs (sorry I'd
like to be able to give a reference, but I have seen them and will
look). It's one of the reasons that roles like Eve and Sybil are such
treats for good actresses, too.
In J&H the two beings bear no resemblance to each other. Hyde is
smaller (Nabokov discusses the significance of this in his lecture).
Jekyll's friends who encounter Hyde clearly do not suspect any
relationship to their friend. Another very interesting detail is the
comparison of their hands - - Jekyll here is describing the sensation of
waking up as Hyde:
" ... my eye fell upon my hand. Now, the hand of Henry Jekyll ... was
professional in shape and size ; it was large, firm, white and comely.
But the hand which I now saw ... was lean, corded, knuckly, of a dusky
pallor, and thickly shaded with a swart growth of hair. It was the hand
of Edward Hyde."
As Brian Boyd reminded us yesterday, Gradus has hairy arms (in Russian
as in many other languages there is no distinction made between
hand/arm).
In particular, I think it needs a fairly
specific explanation of what is "really" going on in Kinbote's
interactions with the Shades. Of course, you might differ.
I do and I don't. In his lecture on J&H Nabokov discusses the
difficulties RLS had in presenting this kind of a story, and I think he
had the same difficulties. In order to convince the reader that the two
characters are separate individuals, Nabokov did have to cheat a bit.
That's how I understand the discrepancies that bother you.
CK (who the devil is CF? your mother?)
p.s. A very good question, by the way - - is Nabokov fair with the
reader? Personally I think that in PF he is and he isn't. In Ada I think
he's completely impossible.
Search the archive: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/archives/nabokv-l.html
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