----- Original Message -----
From: MalignD@aol.com
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Sent: Sunday, March 14, 2004 2:20 PM
Subject: Re:       Fw: Fw: Martin Amis on Bellow , VN, et al

There's a very embarrassing level of defensiveness going on on this board re Bellow.

Bellow's greatness--and Bellow is quite as great as Amis claims--makes no dent in VN's claim to same.

With no intent to compare him to or rate him against VN--Bellow is a marvel.  His style is one of the wonders of 20th century fiction, a seamless mix of the erudite and the street and the gradations in between.  Herzog, Mr. Sammler's Planet, Humboldt's Gift, More Die of Heartbreak--these are wonderful, great novels.

There's something very cultish in the unanimity of the responses here ...  Embarrassing, as I said.