Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0011112, Thu, 24 Feb 2005 17:50:04 -0800

Subject
Fw: Burnberry
Date
Body
----- Original Message -----
From: "Andrew Pope" <andrew.pope@gmail.com>
To: <chtodel@cox.net>
Sent: Thursday, February 24, 2005 3:49 PM
Subject: Burnberry


>I may have missed it, but no-one seems to have mentioned the burnberry
> interpretation that came to mind for me the moment I first read it,
> simply that it is suggestive of a clitoris. The idea of burning seems
> to be strongly connected with sexual arousal in 'Ada'; in the barn, in
> the reddened skin of aroused Ada herself, the burning sensations of
> mosquito bites, and so on... the external form of a clitoris might be
> considered akin in shape and size to a small berry.... and they are
> usually mentioned in connection with bushes, a bush being slang for a
> lady's pubic hair (in Britain, anyway, I can't comment on elsewhere).
> The idea of the clitoris as a burning berry seems in keeping with the
> system of references in Ada. And (to pick a reference mentioned
> recently) it makes the idea of two women bent over from indigestion,
> rather than because of the burnberrys they found in the bushes, quite
> amusing.
>
> Andy
>