Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0010546, Mon, 8 Nov 2004 15:58:12 -0800

Subject
Re: FW: Ada & Eden
Date
Body
" Who cares, cried Van, who cares about all those stale myths, what does it
matter- Jove or Jehovah, spire or cupola, mosques in Moscow, or bronzes and
bonzes, and clerics and relics, and deserts...( ...) They are merely the
dust and mirages of the communal mind" ( Penguin ed. ADA I,ch14, pg.75)

Even if Van doesn´t care about myths and religion ( Cf. AA:" However, VN
said that religion was a boring topic for him...I remember, in Pale Fire,
that Shade was bit irritated by a Kinbote's reference to St Augustin. In
Ada, in his discussion on Time, Van evokes very quickly St Augustin and the
theme of eternity. So, I never read cette Leçon littéraire sur VN, and I
wonder if religion is, or not,a "hidden" theme of the huge masterpiece Ada)
Nabokov seems to have cared enough to include several references to myths
( creation myths: Adam & Eve or even Terra as opposed to Antiterra; Holy
Grail?) , fairy tales ( Cinderella, as the maid Blanche ), Saints ( Saint
George), Amor Fati ( coincidences, theories about time, duration,
eternity ).
Jansy
----- Original Message -----
From: "Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Sent: Monday, November 08, 2004 8:38 PM
Subject: Re: FW: Ada & Eden


Please see Robert Alter's article "ADA or the Perils of Paradise," in Peter
Quennell, ed., "VN: A Tribute," pp.103-118 (London: Weidenfeld & Nicolson,
1979).

A. Bouazza.

----- Original Message -----
From: "Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Sent: Monday, November 08, 2004 8:29 PM
Subject: Re: FW: Ada & Eden


> However, VN said that religion was a boring topic for him...
> I remember, in Pale Fire, that Shade was bit irritated by a Kinbote's
> reference to St Augustin. In Ada, in his discussion on Time, Van evokes
> very quickly St Augustin and the theme of eternity. So, I never read
> cette Leçon littéraire sur VN, and I wonder if religion is, or not,
> a "hidden" theme of the huge masterpiece Ada.
>
> AA
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: "Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
> Date: Sat, 6 Nov 2004 14:02:24 -0800
> Subject: Re: FW: Ada & Eden
>
> > Refering to Carolyn's feeling about "religion in Ada"
> > I recommend a french book called "Leçon littéraire sur
> > Vladimir Nabokov, de la Méprise à Ada", (Literature
> > lesson about VN from Despair to Ada) (Paris, Presses
> > universitaires de France, collection Major, 1995), by
> > Jocelyn Maixent.
> > The author makes an inventory of biblic themes and
> > hints scattering through the novel.
> > For instance :
> > -the apple is always links to Ada/Van couple ;
> > -"ada" in russian means "hell" (cf. Aqua's letter in
> > Part one, chapter 3 in fine)
> > -Ardis is an edenic place : explicit reference to the
> > snake and Knowledge tree at the end of chapter 9 (part
> > one)
> > -the name of "Ardis Hall" sounds both like "Paradise"
> > and "Hell"
> > -some letters of "Adam & Eve" are mixed and reversed
> > in "Ada & Van",
> >
> > and so on. The whole book is interesting.
> >
> > Best regards
> >
> > Olivia Cham
> >
> >
> > --- "Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu> wrote:
> >
> > > ----- Forwarded message from
> > > chaiselongue@earthlink.net -----
> > > Date: Wed, 03 Nov 2004 08:49:23 -0800
> > > From: Carolyn <chaiselongue@earthlink.net>
> > >
> > >
> > > Dear Don,
> > >
> > > I noted recently that I felt a neglected motif in
> > > Ada was RELIGION - - and
> > > listening to a lecture on Paradise Lost, I heard
> > > something that struck me as
> > > perhaps being relevant. The lecturer stated that
> > > some critics came to think
> > > that in Eden Milton was portraying the New World &,
> > > the lecturer continued,
> > > his own opinion is that both Eden & Pandemonium
> > > (haha!) are two New Worlds.
> > >
> > > I thought that was very interesting.
> > >
> > > Carolyn
> > >
> > > ----- End forwarded message -----
> > >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > __________________________________
> > Do you Yahoo!?
> > Check out the new Yahoo! Front Page.
> > www.yahoo.com
> >
> > ----- End forwarded message -----
>
> ----- End forwarded message -----

----- End forwarded message -----

----- End forwarded message -----