Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0008713, Thu, 9 Oct 2003 10:10:39 -0700

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Fw: pynchon-l-digest V2 #3592 PALE FIRE
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----- Original Message -----
From: "pynchon-l-digest" <owner-pynchon-l-digest@waste.org>
To: <pynchon-l-digest@waste.org>
Sent: Wednesday, October 08, 2003 10:19 PM
Subject: pynchon-l-digest V2 #3592


>
> pynchon-l-digest Thursday, October 9 2003 Volume 02 : Number
3592
>
>
>
> NPPF Commentary Line 209, P. 163
> NPPF Commentary Lines 181-182, P. 163
> RE: NPPF Commentary Line 172, P. 154-156 Part 3
> re: NPPF Commentary Line 209, P. 163
> RE: NPPF Commentary Line 209, P. 163
> Re: NPPF Commentary Line 231, P. 167
> Re: NPPF Commentary Line 209, P. 163
> Re: NPPF Commentary Line 209, P. 163
> re: Who rewinds Krapp's last tape?
> The Kazoo Beat of Blackswan Bakhti
> Re: NPPF Commentary Line 209, P. 163
> Re: NPPF commentary line 149 -- some notes
> Re: Article on Mason-Dixon Line in W Post
> NPPF Mise en abyme
> NPPF Faulkner and Proust
> VLVL chpt. 7, 93-97
> Re: Pynchon's to the left....I think Pynchon's anti-secrecy, is what....
>
> ----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
> Date: Wed, 8 Oct 2003 07:47:57 -0700
> From: "Vincent A. Maeder" <vmaeder@cycn-phx.com>
> Subject: NPPF Commentary Line 209, P. 163
>
> Line 209 is the first line of the seventh stanza wherein the poet
> discusses possible escapes from death including resurrection (cf. line
> 238, empty emerald case and the overtones of resurrection). Lines
> 209-210 read, "What moment in gradual decay/Does resurrection choose?"
> This brings in all sorts of images and baggage packed with
> thermodynamics, religious resurrection, and soul survival. A neat trick
> with only eight words.
>
> Briefly, thermodynamics involves three primary laws: energy cannot be
> destroyed or created, only changed (what goes in comes out, or you can't
> win); a closed system tends toward entropy which never decreases (you
> can't break even); once energy reaches absolute zero, entropy is stable
> and the system has entered it's ground state (you can't get out of the
> game).
>
> Applied to that whole resurrection thingy, we could postulate that: The
> energy of the soul cannot be destroyed and continues after death and
> transformation of the body's energy; souls tend to degenerate (so we're
> all headed for Hell eventually); the ground state for all souls is
> absolute zero (meaning that Hell is not flames and heat, but really,
> really cold - bring a jacket)
>
> But back to the actual commentary by Mr. Kinbote, he attempts in his
> vanity of the poem to relate even the most irrelevant passages to his
> life. Here, this line refers in a twisted way to Mr. Gradus itinerary.
> And, if one has not gotten a sense of Mr. Kinbote's substantial mental
> instability at all, a look at the disjointed phrasing of the comment as
> well as the distracted nature of the digression should clue you in.
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Wed, 8 Oct 2003 07:47:57 -0700
> From: "Vincent A. Maeder" <vmaeder@cycn-phx.com>
> Subject: NPPF Commentary Lines 181-182, P. 163
>
> Mr. Kinbote's commentary addresses the last two lines of the third
> stanza of Canto Two. The time is Mr. Shade's 61st birthday and he
> observes Waxwings berry pecking and a cicada singing (the commentary
> mistakenly notes cicada as plural rather than the singular of the poem).
> This calls back the initial image of the poem where a waxwing knocks
> itself out in full flight against the window pane. Apparently, the
> waxwings around the Shade house have become a bit more careful after
> watching one of their freathren fall from the false sky.
>
> This also brings back lines 131-132. In that commentary, Mr. Kinbote
> deflects "mirrorplay" and "mirage shimmer" but rather the doom of
> Kinbote's life dealing with the incoming Mr. Gradus. As for the cicada,
> Mr. Kinbote points to the triumphant song at lines 236-244. Commentary
> to line 238 on p. 1 where Mr. Kinbote relates Mr. Shade's passion for
> "curious natural objects" which Mr. Kinbote dismisses out of hand as
> merely an obstacle to what he and Mr. Shade should be really discussing,
> i.e., Mr. Kinbote. Anyway, we will address the symbology of the cicada
> at line 238 (assuming Mr. VN has allowed us to peck any out of the
> phrase without getting caught in the amber of Mr. Nabokov's prose (cf.
> commentary to line 172, p. 155.
>
> "Waxwings are a group of passerine [perching songbirds] birds
> characterized by soft silky plumage and unique colored tips to some of
> the wing feathers. These look like sealing wax, and give the group its
> name. These are arboreal birds of northern forests. They live on insects
> in summer and berries in winter. They are not true long-distance
> migrants, but move south from their summer range in winter. In poor
> berry years, huge numbers can erupt well beyond their normal range."
> http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waxwing A possible type, the Cedar
> Waxwing, is shown here: http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cedar_Waxwing The
> Cedar Waxwing is a resident of southern Canada and northern USA forests.
> It is a berry eater.
>
> As for cicadas, "A cicada is any of several insects of the order
> Homoptera with small eyes wide apart on the head and transparent
> well-veined wings. Male cicadas have loud noisemakers called "tymbals"
> on their sides. They modulate their noise by wiggling their abdomens
> toward and away from the tree that they are on. The best-known genus is
> Magicicada, the so-called "seventeen-year locust" (not a locust at all;
> locusts belong to Orthoptera) or periodical cicada. These cicadas spend
> thirteen or seventeen years in the ground, then emerge. Periodical
> cicadas are grouped into thirty broods, based on the year they emerge.
> Broods I-XVII are seventeen-year cicadas; Broods XVIII-XXX are
> thirteen-year cicadas. Some broods are not known to exist, but they are
> retained in the numbering scheme for convenience. Brood IX emerged in
> 2003. The next thirteen-year brood to emerge will be Brood XIX in 2011."
> http://www.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cicada
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Wed, 8 Oct 2003 07:54:29 -0700
> From: "Vincent A. Maeder" <vmaeder@cycn-phx.com>
> Subject: RE: NPPF Commentary Line 172, P. 154-156 Part 3
>
> Mary: Cogent points. It is interesting the parallels between the
backstory
> of these two texts. I haven't had the opportunity to read the Boswell
work
> or Sisman's work, but it appears Mr. Nabokov was very familiar with Mr.
> Boswell's work and lifted much plot from it. V.
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Mary Krimmel [mailto:mary@krimmel.net]
> > Probably others have enjoyed the book "Boswell's Presumptuous Task: The
> > Making of the Life of Dr. Johnson" / Adam Sisman, as I have. Both
Sisman's
> > original eight-page Introduction to the book and his two-page
introduction
> > to the Study Guide appended in the Penguin edition are well worth
reading.
> >
> > The book suggests so many Kinbote/Shade parallels (and divergences) that
> > had it been produced fifty years earlier I could suppose that VN had
read
> > it. The title is taken from Boswell's first sentence in the "Life..."
> > [Sisman modernized Boswell's spelling and punctuation.]
> >
> > "To write the life of him who excelled all mankind in writing the
> > lives of others...may be reckoned in me a presumptuous task."
> >
> > A self-assessment about as far from Kinbote as you can imagine. I am
> > tempted to quote one paragraph from Sisman's introduction (p.xviii in
the
> > Penguin edition) and I yield to temptation.
> >
> > "The Life of Johnson can be read as an unending contest between
> > author and subject for posterity. Johnson and Boswell are locked
together
> > for all time, in part-struggle, part-embrace. Boswell will forever be
> > known
> > as Johnson's sidekick, remembered principally because he wrote the life
of
> > a greater man; Johnson is immortalized but also imprisoned by the Life,
> > known best as Boswell portrayed him. Each is a creation of the other."
> >
> > Mary Krimmel
> >
> > At 08:07 AM 10/7/03 -0700, you wrote:
> > >Back to Mr. Kinbote's little black book which contains "a footnote from
> > >Boswell's Life of Dr. Johnson . . ." Although I would be harried to
> > >find a suitable footnote from this opus, I have supplied a website that
> > >seems to have the complete work:
> > >http://newark.rutgers.edu/~jlynch/Texts/BLJ/ But it is interesting
that
> > >Mr. Kinbote brings up this reference. Perhaps he saw our Mr. Shade as
> > >his Mr. Boswell to his own works. Also, here Mr. Kinbote has actually
> > >played the Boswell part by transcribing Mr. Shade's conversations.
> > >Well, here's some encyclopedic snippets of these two gents.
> > >
> > >James Boswell, 1740-1795, was a Scottish lawyer, diarist, and writer
> > >renowned as the biographer of Samuel Johnson. He inspired a noun:
> > >Boswell, n. assiduous and devoted admirer, student, and recorder of
> > >another's words and deeds. Some encyclopedia around here states that
> > >Mr. Boswell was the son of a judge. He reluctantly studied law and
> > >practiced throughout his life. His true interest was in a literary
> > >career and in associating with the great individuals of the time. He
> > >met Samuel Johnson in 1763 and, having himself achieved fame with his
> > >Account of Corsica (1768), produced Journal of a Tour of the Hebrides
> > >with Samuel Johnson, LL.D. (1785). His great work, The Life of Samuel
> > >Johnson, LL.D. appeared in 1791. Boswell recorded Johnson's
> > >conversation so minutely that Johnson is better remembered today for
his
> > >sayings than for his own literary works. The curious combination of
> > >Boswell's own character (he was vainglorious and dissolute) and his
> > >genius at biography has led later critics to call him the greatest of
> > >all biographers. Masses of Boswell manuscript, discovered in the 20th
> > >cent. near Dublin, have enhanced his reputation.
> > >
> > >As for Mr. Johnson, the encyclopedia states that Samuel Johnson,
> > >1709-84, was an English author. The leading literary scholar and
critic
> > >of his day, he helped to define the great period of English literature
> > >known as the Augustan Age. He is as celebrated for his brilliant
> > >conversation as for his writing. He began writing for London magazines
> > >around 1737, on literary and political subjects. The anonymously
> > >published poem London (1738) won the praise of Pope, and his reputation
> > >was further enhanced by his poetic satire The Vanity of Human Wishes
> > >(1749) and his moral essays in The Rambler (1750-52). Johnson's place
> > >was permanently assured by his great Dictionary of the English Language
> > >(1755), the first comprehensive English lexicon. Rasselas, a moral
> > >romance, appeared in 1759, and the Idler essays between 1758 and 1760.
> > >In 1763, Johnson met James Boswell, and his life thereafter is
> > >documented in Boswell's great biography (1791). With Joshua Reynolds
he
> > >founded (1764) "The Club"; this elite gathering, with such members as
> > >Goldsmith, Burke, and Garrick, was dominated by Johnson, whose wit and
> > >aphorisms are still remembered. In 1765, he published his edition of
> > >Shakespeare, the model for later editions. His last works include an
> > >account (1775) of a trip with Boswell to the Hebrides and the
perceptive
> > >10-volume Lives of the Poets (1779-81). He was England's first
complete
> > >man of letters, and his influence was incalculable.
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Wed, 08 Oct 2003 12:20:50 -0400
> From: Terrance <lycidas2@earthlink.net>
> Subject: re: NPPF Commentary Line 209, P. 163
>
> >Line 209 is the first line of the seventh stanza wherein the poet
> >discusses possible escapes from death including resurrection (cf. line
> >238, empty emerald case and the overtones of resurrection). Lines
> >209-210 read, "What moment in gradual decay/Does resurrection choose?"
> >This brings in all sorts of images and baggage packed with
> >thermodynamics, religious resurrection, and soul survival. A neat trick
> >with only eight words.
>
> Wha? Thermodynamics? I guess I missed that neat trick.
>
> Maud is dead. The poet is not discussing thermodynamics.
> What he is discussing, again, is resurrection, life after death, and the
> state of the soul before, during, after, life.
>
> Why fly from these spiritual terminals, abandon the religious baggage
> at the carrousel, hop on a connecting flight stapled to a flying and
> dying heat engine?
>
> Why set all our engines against the possibility of an everlasting life
> over the rainbow and through the looking glass? Till the clatter of the
> engine wake us and we drown?
>
> But how crazy must a poet be to give the world the lie with his peculiar
> verse?
>
> My Soul. Such fullness in that quarter overflows
> And falls into the basin of the mind
> That man is stricken deaf and dumb and blind,
> For intellect no longer knows
> I, Is from the I, Ought, or I knower from the I Known --
> That is to say, ascends to Heaven;
> Only the dead can be forgiven;
> But when I think of that my tongue's a stone.
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Wed, 8 Oct 2003 10:16:38 -0700
> From: "Vincent A. Maeder" <vmaeder@cycn-phx.com>
> Subject: RE: NPPF Commentary Line 209, P. 163
>
> Though I did not bring the text with me, the commentary notes that
> everything is subject to decay (anyone have the text to assist here?) The
> concept of decay ties nicely into the 2nd law of thermodynamics, entropy,
> and Maxwell's Demon (there's a Pynchon connection for you).
> V.
>
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Terrance [mailto:lycidas2@earthlink.net]
> > Sent: Wednesday, October 08, 2003 9:21 AM
> > To: pynchon-l@waste.org
> > Subject: re: NPPF Commentary Line 209, P. 163
> >
> > >Line 209 is the first line of the seventh stanza wherein the poet
> > >discusses possible escapes from death including resurrection (cf. line
> > >238, empty emerald case and the overtones of resurrection). Lines
> > >209-210 read, "What moment in gradual decay/Does resurrection choose?"
> > >This brings in all sorts of images and baggage packed with
> > >thermodynamics, religious resurrection, and soul survival. A neat
trick
> > >with only eight words.
> >
> > Wha? Thermodynamics? I guess I missed that neat trick.
> >
> > Maud is dead. The poet is not discussing thermodynamics.
> > What he is discussing, again, is resurrection, life after death, and the
> > state of the soul before, during, after, life.
> >
> > Why fly from these spiritual terminals, abandon the religious baggage
> > at the carrousel, hop on a connecting flight stapled to a flying and
> > dying heat engine?
> >
> > Why set all our engines against the possibility of an everlasting life
> > over the rainbow and through the looking glass? Till the clatter of the
> > engine wake us and we drown?
> >
> > But how crazy must a poet be to give the world the lie with his peculiar
> > verse?
> >
> > My Soul. Such fullness in that quarter overflows
> > And falls into the basin of the mind
> > That man is stricken deaf and dumb and blind,
> > For intellect no longer knows
> > I, Is from the I, Ought, or I knower from the I Known --
> > That is to say, ascends to Heaven;
> > Only the dead can be forgiven;
> > But when I think of that my tongue's a stone.
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Wed, 08 Oct 2003 13:36:13 -0400
> From: Terrance <lycidas2@earthlink.net>
> Subject: Re: NPPF Commentary Line 231, P. 167
>
> How ludicrous, etc.
>
> http://www.raspberryworld.com/today/sleep.html
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Wed, 08 Oct 2003 13:35:52 -0400
> From: Terrance <lycidas2@earthlink.net>
> Subject: Re: NPPF Commentary Line 209, P. 163
>
> "Vincent A. Maeder" wrote:
> >
> > Though I did not bring the text with me, the commentary notes that
> > everything is subject to decay (anyone have the text to assist here?)
The
> > concept of decay ties nicely into the 2nd law of thermodynamics,
entropy,
> > and Maxwell's Demon (there's a Pynchon connection for you).
>
> Yes, gradual decay, or a gradual dispersion of heat, energy spreading.
> And, who rewinds the tape?
> do any escape? Maxwell?
>
> Excellent!
>
>
>
> http://www.secondlaw.com/two.html
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Wed, 08 Oct 2003 13:47:35 -0400
> From: Terrance <lycidas2@earthlink.net>
> Subject: Re: NPPF Commentary Line 209, P. 163
>
>
> > Though I did not bring the text with me, the commentary notes that
> > everything is subject to decay (anyone have the text to assist here?)
The
> > concept of decay ties nicely into the 2nd law of thermodynamics,
entropy,
> > and Maxwell's Demon (there's a Pynchon connection for you).
>
> What moment in the gradual decay
> Does resurrection choose?
> What year?
> What day?
> Who has the stopwatch?
> Who rewinds the tape?
> Are some less lucky, or do all escape?
>
> A syllogism: other people die; but I
> Am not another; therefore I'll not die.
>
> Space is swarming in the eyes; and time,
> A singing in the ears. In this hive I'm
> Locked up. Yet if prior to life we had
> Been able to imagine life, what mad
> Impossible unutterably weird,
> Wonderful nonsense it might have appeared.
>
> ------------------------------
>

>

> ------------------------------
>

> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Wed, 8 Oct 2003 14:35:11 -0700
> From: "Glenn Scheper" <glenn_scheper@earthlink.net>
> Subject: Re: NPPF commentary line 149 -- some notes
>
> > Poe's "To One in Paradise":
>
> > A voice from out the Future cries,
> > "On! on!"-but o'er the Past
> > (Dim gulf!) my spirit hovering lies
> > Mute, motionless, aghast!
>
> Poe being a fellow, I'll count four hits
> on hover as an AF trope w/o even surfing.
> Of course, sea/lake/abyss/gulf is mouth.
>
> Yours truly,
> Glenn Scheper
> http://home.earthlink.net/~glenn_scheper/
> glenn_scheper + at + earthlink.net
> Copyleft(!) Forward freely.
>
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Thu, 09 Oct 2003 12:46:24 +1000
> From: jbor <jbor@bigpond.com>
> Subject: NPPF Mise en abyme
>
> Kinbote's note to line 181:
>
> On another trip to the bathroom an hour and a half later,
> at sunrise, I found the light transferred to the bedroom,
> and smiled indulgently, for, according to my deductions,
> only two nights had passed since the three-thousand-nine-
> hundred-ninety-ninth time -- but no matter.
>
> This cheeky aside refers to lines 276-277 in the poem, where Shade
addresses
> Sybil: "Four thousand times your pillow has been creased/ By our two
heads."
> But how can Kinbote's "deductions" have been made on this particular day,
> before Shade had even *written* the particular verse estimating the number
> of times he and Sybil had enjoyed connubial congress, let alone before
> Kinbote had actually read it?
>
> "Today" indeed.
>
> best
>
> ------------------------------
>
> Date: Thu, 09 Oct 2003 12:48:12 +1000
> From: jbor <jbor@bigpond.com>
> Subject: NPPF Faulkner and Proust
>
> Kinbote's note to line 181:
>
> ... a little pillar of library books ... they were mostly by
> Mr Faulkner ...
>
> "Speaking of novels ... Proust's rough masterpiece ... "
>
> I suspect Nabokov would have had a healthy admiration for Faulkner, and
the
> reference here is perhaps in the spirit of a doff of the cap.
>
> And the intricate way in which Kinbote responds to the affront and upset
> suffered at being snubbed by Sybil and Shade by marking that passage in _ю
> la recherche du temps perdu_ is quite wonderful. The way he fends off
> Sybil's attempts to interrupt and gets right through to the conclusion of
> what must have been a prepared speech is to be admired also. Here again
the
> balance of sympathy seems to me to be tilted in Kinbote's favour.
>
> best
>