Subject
Fw: Leonardo.
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Michael Maar" <michael.maar@snafu.de>
>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (37
lines) ------------------
> Dear list,
>
>
> Jansy Berndt de Souza Mello is right to point at Nabokov's story "The
Leonardo",
> and his discovery of the "small doll hidden under a bed" is an exquisitely
> subtle point. Nevertheless one should mention the most striking similarity
with
> Lichberg's "Lolita". Not only that one of the brothers, as he mentions, is
> called "Anton" like in Lichberg's tale. Not only that they metaphorically
appear
> like twins ("Red sweater and gray went up the window and actually leaned
out,
> becoming identical twins.") On the same page a strange thing happens with
those
> two aggressive brothers.
>
> "Meanwhile the brothers began to swell, to grow, they filled up the whole
room,
> the whole house, and then grew out if it. (...) Gigantic, imperiouskly
reeking
> of sweat and beer, with beefy voices and senseless speeches, with fecal
matter
> replacing the human brain, they provoke a tremor of ignoble fear."
>
> Compare this with that very remarkable scene of the other Anton and his
> twin-brother in Lichberg's "Lolita" when Lola is challenging them just
before
> being killed by one of them - like the "Leonardo" of Nabokov's story will
be:
>
> "'I will love whoever is tallest.' Their eyes flashed and the men seemed
to grow
> taller and taller, their necks lengthened and thickened, and their sleeves
burst
> right down to the elbows. Their faces became so ugly and distorted, that I
> feared their bones would break."
>
> An ugly couple of (twin-)brothers, one of them Anton, in a
phantasmagorical
> growing-scene (even if you leave the hidden doll and the
> Leonardo-Gioconda-complex out) - coincidence? Come on!
>
> Best wishes
> Michael Maar
>
>
>
>
>
From: "Michael Maar" <michael.maar@snafu.de>
>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (37
lines) ------------------
> Dear list,
>
>
> Jansy Berndt de Souza Mello is right to point at Nabokov's story "The
Leonardo",
> and his discovery of the "small doll hidden under a bed" is an exquisitely
> subtle point. Nevertheless one should mention the most striking similarity
with
> Lichberg's "Lolita". Not only that one of the brothers, as he mentions, is
> called "Anton" like in Lichberg's tale. Not only that they metaphorically
appear
> like twins ("Red sweater and gray went up the window and actually leaned
out,
> becoming identical twins.") On the same page a strange thing happens with
those
> two aggressive brothers.
>
> "Meanwhile the brothers began to swell, to grow, they filled up the whole
room,
> the whole house, and then grew out if it. (...) Gigantic, imperiouskly
reeking
> of sweat and beer, with beefy voices and senseless speeches, with fecal
matter
> replacing the human brain, they provoke a tremor of ignoble fear."
>
> Compare this with that very remarkable scene of the other Anton and his
> twin-brother in Lichberg's "Lolita" when Lola is challenging them just
before
> being killed by one of them - like the "Leonardo" of Nabokov's story will
be:
>
> "'I will love whoever is tallest.' Their eyes flashed and the men seemed
to grow
> taller and taller, their necks lengthened and thickened, and their sleeves
burst
> right down to the elbows. Their faces became so ugly and distorted, that I
> feared their bones would break."
>
> An ugly couple of (twin-)brothers, one of them Anton, in a
phantasmagorical
> growing-scene (even if you leave the hidden doll and the
> Leonardo-Gioconda-complex out) - coincidence? Come on!
>
> Best wishes
> Michael Maar
>
>
>
>
>