Subject
Re: THOUGHT
From
Date
Body
A THOUGHT
Having immersed myself in Brian Boyd's work on PF, I still can't help feeling less than fully convinced about the haunted barn episode. Not, I hasten to add, about Brian Boyd's analysis so far as it goes. It's just that I feel that VN owes us an explanation to something which doesn't happen in the barn.
What troubles me is that, if we accept that Aunt Maud is warning Hazel that John Shade should not cross the lane - and there are references to the Red Admiral (which BB identifies with Hazel herself) and so on in the fractured words spelled out by the light ("Pada atalana...etc") then we must accept that Aunt Maud's ghost is able to foresee the future. So if she is attempting to warn John Shade through Hazel about the fate that awaits him if he crosses the lane, why does she not also foresee Hazel's future death and try to warn Hazel about that - perhaps not to go to Hawaiian bars or on blind dates, or to avoid young men called Pete?
I'm sorry to be flippant about this, but it does seem odd that the ghost of Aunt Maud (who lived long enough, we know, to see Hazel born) should be so solicitous for the life of a sixty-one year old, but not for the life of his daughter - a vulnerable young woman in her early twenties.
A possible answer I suppose is that Aunt Maud knows that Hazel will be reincarnated as the Red Admiral and it is therefore necessary for Hazel to die before JS, so that Hazel can reinforce the warning given in the barn by her flight as a butterfly - but unfortunately nobody deciphers the message in the barn, so Hazel's "role" goes unremarked.
But that does rather cast Aunt Maud in a rather poor light - being prepared to permit the sacrifice of Hazel's life in order to try to protect John's.
And in any event, it doesn't answer the question as to whether Maud could ever affect a future event that she can foresee.
Barrie Akin
From: Vladimir Nabokov Forum [mailto:NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU] On Behalf Of NABOKV-L, English
Sent: 01 October 2012 15:40
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Subject: [NABOKV-L] EDITORIAL: Falling ahead
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Having immersed myself in Brian Boyd's work on PF, I still can't help feeling less than fully convinced about the haunted barn episode. Not, I hasten to add, about Brian Boyd's analysis so far as it goes. It's just that I feel that VN owes us an explanation to something which doesn't happen in the barn.
What troubles me is that, if we accept that Aunt Maud is warning Hazel that John Shade should not cross the lane - and there are references to the Red Admiral (which BB identifies with Hazel herself) and so on in the fractured words spelled out by the light ("Pada atalana...etc") then we must accept that Aunt Maud's ghost is able to foresee the future. So if she is attempting to warn John Shade through Hazel about the fate that awaits him if he crosses the lane, why does she not also foresee Hazel's future death and try to warn Hazel about that - perhaps not to go to Hawaiian bars or on blind dates, or to avoid young men called Pete?
I'm sorry to be flippant about this, but it does seem odd that the ghost of Aunt Maud (who lived long enough, we know, to see Hazel born) should be so solicitous for the life of a sixty-one year old, but not for the life of his daughter - a vulnerable young woman in her early twenties.
A possible answer I suppose is that Aunt Maud knows that Hazel will be reincarnated as the Red Admiral and it is therefore necessary for Hazel to die before JS, so that Hazel can reinforce the warning given in the barn by her flight as a butterfly - but unfortunately nobody deciphers the message in the barn, so Hazel's "role" goes unremarked.
But that does rather cast Aunt Maud in a rather poor light - being prepared to permit the sacrifice of Hazel's life in order to try to protect John's.
And in any event, it doesn't answer the question as to whether Maud could ever affect a future event that she can foresee.
Barrie Akin
From: Vladimir Nabokov Forum [mailto:NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU] On Behalf Of NABOKV-L, English
Sent: 01 October 2012 15:40
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Subject: [NABOKV-L] EDITORIAL: Falling ahead
Dear List,
As autumn settles in, I don my editorial hat (to my mind, a very rakish
thing, with a feather that curls up and a brim that sweeps down) while my
stalwart alter ego, Stephen Blackwell, gallantly doffs his own. Thank you,
Steve!
Please remember to keep your posts pertinent (to Nabokov studies) and
respectful (to others, including the many subscribers who may not post
messages themselves but read NABOKV-L faithfully). We ask enthusiastic
correspondents to combine posts on related topics rather than sending a
flood of messages. If at all possible, please identify the focus of your post
in the subject heading as a QUERY, THOUGHT, SIGHTING, ANNC
[announcement of a conference or event], BIB [bibliographical entry in
Nabokov studies], or VNBIB [new publication by Nabokov].
If you are a Nabokov scholar, we would like very much to hear what you are
working on at the moment. Send us an announcement of a forthcoming
conference paper or publication or dissertation chapter, or just let us
know what topic you are mulling over. If you are reading (or re-reading!)
Nabokov at the moment, please share your fresh thoughts on a specific
sentence or scene. If you are new to the List, welcome!
Also, please be patient with me as I adjust to a new email system. If your
message hasn't been posted or gotten a response from me in 48 hours, please
let me know, just in case I didn't get it; and if you have second thoughts
after submitting a post, please alert me by sending a message directly to "
nabokv-l@holycross.edu<mailto:nabokv-l@holycross.edu>" with a subject heading like "RETRACTION" or "PLEASE
IGNORE MY LAST POST." (Because of the mechanics of editing NABOKV-L, if
you send a revision or request for withdrawal to the listserv, I probably
won't see it until after posting your original submission.)
Happy fall,
SES
--
Susan Elizabeth Sweeney
Co-Editor, NABOKV-L
Google Search the archive<http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en>
Contact the Editors<mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu>
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal"<http://www.nabokovonline.com>
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View Nabokv-L Policies<http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm>
Manage subscription options<http://listserv.ucsb.edu/>
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Temporary L-Soft Search the archive<https://listserv.ucsb.edu/lsv-cgi-bin/wa?A0=NABOKV-L&X=58B9943B29972AFF64&Y=nabokv-l%40utk.edu>
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______________________________________________________________________
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______________________________________________________________________
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For more information please visit http://www.mimecast.com
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