Carolyn Kunin: Since I rarely know if anyone pays attention to anything I send to the List, except on rare occasions when Jansy gets her dander up, I will
remind you all that not terribly long ago I posted information I uncovered regarding the contempt in which VN appeared to hold BLP's 'Zhivago' (by the way, does anyone ever pronounce it 'Zhivavo'?).

 

Jansy Mello: Carolyn...des pellicules? Moi, jamais! Please, include me out ( I had to look up "get the dander up" and got to Samuel Godwin's folkloric pronouncements, competing with the idea of cleansing the froth of indignation).

I wonder if Nabokov's critical appraisal of Dr.Zhivago.was moved by Nobel envy. In B.Boyd's AY I came across a chapter in which BB mentions the awards and honorary degress that were refused by Nabokov (although BB was not very specific about them - actually, he was uncommonly vague...).In my opinion VN was totally sure of his aesthetic opinions and almost absolutist in his view about what art really is: he judged writers and poets according to his own high standards. .Besides, a little envy is not a dangerous thing..