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Re: Query: Lolita and Keats-Bailey correspondence?
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----- Forwarded message from as-brown@comcast.net -----
Date: Wed, 16 Mar 2005 19:57:34 -0500
From: Andrew Brown <as-brown@comcast.net>
Reply-To: Andrew Brown <as-brown@comcast.net>
Query: Lolita and Keats-Bailey correspondence?Jansey,
It seems to me more that Proust's involuntary memory meant memories that come
unbidden, often unwelcome, more so than specific memories that are sought but
not obtained. Proust's characters are more often engulfed in memories,
overpowered by them. The involuntary action is memory's abundance. But from the
moment Humbert reports Annabel's death in Corfu, he can fairly easily, and
coldbloodedly, proceed without much of a backward glance for her. The passage
in which HH writes his ironic essay is in the period when he also writes his
fleshless (and stillborn) pastiche, and hangs out at the Deux Magot, and
basically lives as a banal left bank cliche. He admits to being an artiste
manque which also supports my idea about the idleness of his essay. The
nympholeptic contact has him in thrall, and he is less pining for the past than
he is muddling toward a future, through a string of desultory adventures, until
the fateful day he winds up in Ramsdale. And there he finds the real thing, of
which Annabel was merely simulacrum.
Andrew Brown
----- Original Message -----
From: Donald B. Johnson
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Sent: Wednesday, March 16, 2005 3:50 PM
Subject: Fwd: Re: Query: Lolita and Keats-Bailey correspondence?
----- Forwarded message from jansy@aetern.us -----
Date: Wed, 16 Mar 2005 14:15:27 -0300
From: Jansy Berndt de Souza Mello <jansy@aetern.us>
Reply-To: Jansy Berndt de Souza Mello <jansy@aetern.us>
Subject: Re: Query: Lolita and Keats-Bailey correspondence?
RE: Spam: Query: Lolita and Keats-Bailey correspondence?Andrew,
I haven´t read any but one of Keats´ letters ( with the much quoted
description
of "negative capability" - which all Nabokovians must cultivate anyway ) but
I´ve always been intrigued by Nabokov´s project of having everything under
control in his conscious mind yielding complete and free access to his
remembrances. No slip without glitter and glide.
And yet one of the intriguing aspects of Proust´s theory about memory and his
examples comes from the fact that Proust refers to an "involuntary memory".
There is a wonderful essay on Proust written by Samuel Beckett where he was
able
to count only six or seven epiphanies in Proust´s entire oeuvre.
I was wondering if, instead of joining the chuckling scholars, HH was hiding a
disappointment at his not being able to conjure up Annabel Lee as often as he
desired. If his memory, like the Proustian, remained "involuntary" ...
----- Original Message -----
From: Donald B. Johnson
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Sent: Wednesday, March 16, 2005 1:39 PM
Subject: Query: Lolita and Keats-Bailey correspondence?
----- Forwarded message from Andrew.Brown@bbdodetroit.com -----
Date: Wed, 16 Mar 2005 08:26:38 -0500
From: "Brown, Andrew" <Andrew.Brown@bbdodetroit.com>
Mike,
Having read Keats's letters and found nothing in those addressed to Bailey
to
suggest a Proustian theme, I took Humbert's assertion to mean that his
article
had intentionally been in jest. HH notes without disappointment that the
article provoked chuckles from the few scholars who read it. I think VN was
prone to enjoying this sort of humor. Possibly something of the sort was
among
the minute idea seeds out of which grew the masterpiece Pale Fire.
Andrew Brown
> ----------
> From: Vladimir Nabokov Forum on behalf of Donald B. Johnson
> Reply To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum
> Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2005 9:48 PM
> To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> Subject: Spam: Query: Lolita and Keats-Bailey correspondence?
>
> Dear List,
>
> A Lolita question: Humbert notes (p. 16 in the Vintage edition) that he
> wrote an article about "The Proustian theme in a letter from Keats to
> Benjamin Bailey." I assume that the letter has something to do with
memory,
> but I'm having a hard time finding any passages in Keats's letters to
Bailey
> that directly deal with memory. Has anyone figured out the specific Keats
> passage that H.H. might be referring to?
>
> Thanks,
> Mike Donohue
>
> ----- End forwarded message -----
>
>
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------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mike,
Having read Keats's letters and found nothing in those addressed to Bailey
to
suggest a Proustian theme, I took Humbert's assertion to mean that his article
had intentionally been in jest. HH notes without disappointment that the
article provoked chuckles from the few scholars who read it. I think VN was
prone to enjoying this sort of humor. Possibly something of the sort was among
the minute idea seeds out of which grew the masterpiece Pale Fire.
Andrew Brown
----------
From: Vladimir Nabokov Forum on behalf of Donald B. Johnson
Reply To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum
Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2005 9:48 PM
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Subject: Spam: Query: Lolita and Keats-Bailey correspondence?
Dear List,
A Lolita question: Humbert notes (p. 16 in the Vintage edition) that he
wrote an article about "The Proustian theme in a letter from Keats to
Benjamin Bailey." I assume that the letter has something to do with
memory,
but I'm having a hard time finding any passages in Keats's letters to
Bailey
that directly deal with memory. Has anyone figured out the specific Keats
passage that H.H. might be referring to?
Thanks,
Mike Donohue
----- End forwarded message -----
This message and any attachments contain information, which may be
confidential or privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, please
refrain from any disclosure, copying, distribution or use of this information.
Please be aware that such actions are prohibited. If you have received this
transmission in error, kindly notify us by calling 1-800-262-4723 or e-mail to
helpdesk@bbdo.com. We appreciate your cooperation.
----- End forwarded message -----
------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Andrew,
I haven´t read any but one of Keats´ letters ( with the much quoted
description of "negative capability" - which all Nabokovians must cultivate
anyway ) but I´ve always been intrigued by Nabokov´s project of having
everything under control in his conscious mind yielding complete and free
access to his remembrances. No slip without glitter and glide.
And yet one of the intriguing aspects of Proust´s theory about memory and his
examples comes from the fact that Proust refers to an "involuntary memory".
There is a wonderful essay on Proust written by Samuel Beckett where he was
able to count only six or seven epiphanies in Proust´s entire oeuvre.
I was wondering if, instead of joining the chuckling scholars, HH was hiding a
disappointment at his not being able to conjure up Annabel Lee as often as he
desired. If his memory, like the Proustian, remained "involuntary" ...
----- Original Message -----
From: Donald B. Johnson
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Sent: Wednesday, March 16, 2005 1:39 PM
Subject: Query: Lolita and Keats-Bailey correspondence?
----- Forwarded message from Andrew.Brown@bbdodetroit.com -----
Date: Wed, 16 Mar 2005 08:26:38 -0500
From: "Brown, Andrew" <Andrew.Brown@bbdodetroit.com>
Mike,
Having read Keats's letters and found nothing in those addressed to Bailey
to
suggest a Proustian theme, I took Humbert's assertion to mean that his
article
had intentionally been in jest. HH notes without disappointment that the
article provoked chuckles from the few scholars who read it. I think VN was
prone to enjoying this sort of humor. Possibly something of the sort was
among
the minute idea seeds out of which grew the masterpiece Pale Fire.
Andrew Brown
> ----------
> From: Vladimir Nabokov Forum on behalf of Donald B. Johnson
> Reply To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum
> Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2005 9:48 PM
> To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> Subject: Spam: Query: Lolita and Keats-Bailey correspondence?
>
> Dear List,
>
> A Lolita question: Humbert notes (p. 16 in the Vintage edition) that he
> wrote an article about "The Proustian theme in a letter from Keats to
> Benjamin Bailey." I assume that the letter has something to do with
memory,
> but I'm having a hard time finding any passages in Keats's letters to
Bailey
> that directly deal with memory. Has anyone figured out the specific Keats
> passage that H.H. might be referring to?
>
> Thanks,
> Mike Donohue
>
> ----- End forwarded message -----
>
>
This message and any attachments contain information, which may be
confidential
or privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, please refrain from
any
disclosure, copying, distribution or use of this information. Please be
aware
that such actions are prohibited. If you have received this transmission in
error, kindly notify us by calling 1-800-262-4723 or e-mail to
helpdesk@bbdo.com. We appreciate your cooperation.
----- End forwarded message -----
----------------------------------------------------------------------------
Mike,
Having read Keats's letters and found nothing in those addressed to Bailey
to suggest a Proustian theme, I took Humbert's assertion to mean that his
article had intentionally been in jest. HH notes without disappointment that
the article provoked chuckles from the few scholars who read it. I think VN was
prone to enjoying this sort of humor. Possibly something of the sort was among
the minute idea seeds out of which grew the masterpiece Pale Fire.
Andrew Brown
----------
From: Vladimir Nabokov Forum on behalf of Donald B. Johnson
Reply To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum
Sent: Tuesday, March 15, 2005 9:48 PM
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Subject: Spam: Query: Lolita and Keats-Bailey correspondence?
Dear List,
A Lolita question: Humbert notes (p. 16 in the Vintage edition) that he
wrote an article about "The Proustian theme in a letter from Keats to
Benjamin Bailey." I assume that the letter has something to do with
memory,
but I'm having a hard time finding any passages in Keats's letters to
Bailey
that directly deal with memory. Has anyone figured out the specific Keats
passage that H.H. might be referring to?
Thanks,
Mike Donohue
----- End forwarded message -----
This message and any attachments contain information, which may be
confidential or privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, please
refrain from any disclosure, copying, distribution or use of this information.
Please be aware that such actions are prohibited. If you have received this
transmission in error, kindly notify us by calling 1-800-262-4723 or e-mail to
helpdesk@bbdo.com. We appreciate your cooperation.
----- End forwarded message -----