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Re: Nabokov & Death Penalty (fwd)
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From: Kiran Krishna <kiran@Physics.usyd.edu.au>
I believe VN disliked signing petitions as well. Among the various forms
of group-think he despised. I think that it would be hard to see a person
who describes himself as being an old-fashioned liberal being anything
other than just that. And I think he would have had far more problems with
the poshli Mr Klintron, than the somewhat erratic Bush. Not that I can see
him caring much about either.
Kiran
On Tue, 21 May 2002, Galya Diment wrote:
> From: rodney41@mindspring.com
>
> I believe you are referring to a letter Nabokov wrote to California Governor Pat Brown as to why he refused to sign some petition regarding the death penalty; that he wouldn't sign such a petition because he had already written a book against it.
>
> I've never understood this statement. For one thing, he was devoutly against the use of art for political ends, and for another, "Invitation to a Beheading" hardly qualifies as a statement against capital punishment at all -- it's about being an outsider in a fake, conformist society, where imagination is the greatest possible crime. Anyone who reads it looking for enlightenment on how to deal with the Timothy McVeighs of the world is going to be sorely disappointed.
>
> 1 May 2002 11:46:16 -0700 Galya Diment <galya@u.washington.edu> wrote:
>
> From: Michael Bohinick <mikebohinick@yahoo.com>
>
> More telling of Nabokov's opposition to Capital
> Punishment, no matter what is written in Dar, can be
> found in 'Invitation to a Beheading.' The entire work
> condemns such punishment, as, I believe, Nabokov
> mentions in a letter to some politician. The large
> amount of political views mentioned in the past few
> days seem to have strayed from the topic.
> The current president can not get a firm grasp of
> Russian culture from reading Dostoevski, as he would
> also be unable to do so by reading any Russian author,
> past or present.
>
> MAB
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> LAUNCH - Your Yahoo! Music Experience
> http://launch.yahoo.com
>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kiran Krishna
3rd yr physics
(Falkiner High Energy Physics)
University of Sydney
NSW 2006
--------------------------------------------
The five rules of Socialism:
1. Don't think
2. If you do think, don't speak
3. If you think and speak, don't write
4. If you think, speak and write, don't sign
5. If you think, speak, write and sign, don't be surprised
http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/~kiran
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
I believe VN disliked signing petitions as well. Among the various forms
of group-think he despised. I think that it would be hard to see a person
who describes himself as being an old-fashioned liberal being anything
other than just that. And I think he would have had far more problems with
the poshli Mr Klintron, than the somewhat erratic Bush. Not that I can see
him caring much about either.
Kiran
On Tue, 21 May 2002, Galya Diment wrote:
> From: rodney41@mindspring.com
>
> I believe you are referring to a letter Nabokov wrote to California Governor Pat Brown as to why he refused to sign some petition regarding the death penalty; that he wouldn't sign such a petition because he had already written a book against it.
>
> I've never understood this statement. For one thing, he was devoutly against the use of art for political ends, and for another, "Invitation to a Beheading" hardly qualifies as a statement against capital punishment at all -- it's about being an outsider in a fake, conformist society, where imagination is the greatest possible crime. Anyone who reads it looking for enlightenment on how to deal with the Timothy McVeighs of the world is going to be sorely disappointed.
>
> 1 May 2002 11:46:16 -0700 Galya Diment <galya@u.washington.edu> wrote:
>
> From: Michael Bohinick <mikebohinick@yahoo.com>
>
> More telling of Nabokov's opposition to Capital
> Punishment, no matter what is written in Dar, can be
> found in 'Invitation to a Beheading.' The entire work
> condemns such punishment, as, I believe, Nabokov
> mentions in a letter to some politician. The large
> amount of political views mentioned in the past few
> days seem to have strayed from the topic.
> The current president can not get a firm grasp of
> Russian culture from reading Dostoevski, as he would
> also be unable to do so by reading any Russian author,
> past or present.
>
> MAB
>
> __________________________________________________
> Do You Yahoo!?
> LAUNCH - Your Yahoo! Music Experience
> http://launch.yahoo.com
>
--------------------------------------------------------------------------
Kiran Krishna
3rd yr physics
(Falkiner High Energy Physics)
University of Sydney
NSW 2006
--------------------------------------------
The five rules of Socialism:
1. Don't think
2. If you do think, don't speak
3. If you think and speak, don't write
4. If you think, speak and write, don't sign
5. If you think, speak, write and sign, don't be surprised
http://www.physics.usyd.edu.au/~kiran
--------------------------------------------------------------------------