Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0008940, Thu, 20 Nov 2003 17:33:09 -0800

Subject
Fw: Fw: Cast of Ada
Date
Body
----- Original Message -----
From: "Jansy Berndt de Souza Mello" <jansy@aetern.us>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (71
lines) ------------------
> Hello, Dane Gill and List
>
> ( If I had my hands in a cast I wouldn´t be writing about the Cast of
> Ada. It would be less risky for me, but I´m curious to see what happens if
> we keep this ball of Ada´s lineage rolling ..)
>
> I´ve always been fascinated by Blanche, the Cinderella dustlady, the
> "Ashette" that looses her shoes or delves in pumpkins ( this also
happens
> in Ada! ) whose finger draws figures along a dusty globe.
> Blanche has two other sisters, one of them is called Rose and the
other
> sometimes dresses up like a messenger boy, as in many Shakespeare´s plays
> ( but only Twelfth Night comes to my mind now and Viola).
> She is more or less seventeen when she appears as a house-maid in
Ardis,
> but soon she becomes more and more ethereal or shadowy as if she were a
> mythical figure ( one of the three muses, three witches, three "parques"
?)
> or even a phantom expression of Ada´s.
> Demon seems to have the hots for every female in the novel and they
> become younger and younger ashe grows older.
> Van seems to be equally ardent but he is also described as very
potent
> and sterile ( except, perhaps, for Cordulla´s pregnancy ). There is a
> sentence in which Van seems to consider that he and his father share this
> "late" sterility ..
> I was told that "eunuchs" in charge of harems are allowed sexual
> intercourse with the sultan´s wives but are unable to impregnate them. I
> don´t think VN was considering Van in such a role at Eric´s
> intercontinental harem houses or towards his father´s mistresses...
> I rather think that in "Ada" VN is describing an ideal romantic
> relationship, such as Tristan and Isolda´s, by Van´s love and faithful
> dedication to his Ada.
> Ada is a caleidoscopic book and as colored. My comments aim simply to
> pick up the thread of your question and see where it will lead us to.
> Jansy
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "D. Barton Johnson" <chtodel@cox.net>
> To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> Sent: Wednesday, November 19, 2003 9:25 PM
> Subject: Fw: Cast of Ada
>
>
> > ----- Original Message -----
> > From: "Dane Gill" <pennyparkerpark@hotmail.com>
> > .
> > >
> > > ----------------- Message requiring your approval (18
> > lines) ------------------
> > > Greetings
> > > Just to clear things up a little but for me, could someone please
> explain
> > > some of the characters in Ada please:
> > > Blanche - who exactly is she, how old is she?
> > > Bout - an "old frenchen", but how old? And what's the name of his son?
> > > Does Demon have the "hots" for every female in the novel? (Ada,
Lucette,
> > > Blanche...etc)
> > >
> > > I know that this may sound a little obvious to some people, but I have
> > > always had trouble with Ada and now that I've finally "got" most of
what
> > > confused me before (with much more to solve) this has me confused once
> > > again.
> > > Thank you, Dane Gill
> > >
> > > _________________________________________________________________
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> > >
> > >
> >
> >
>