Subject
Re: QUERY: Did Nabokov actually say this?
From
Date
Body
Estoy totalmente de acuerdo con la apreciación de Jeremy: más que palabras de Nabokov, parecieran haber sido escritas por uno o varios de sus seguidores. Saludos.
Kutzi Montserrat
--- El mié 15-jun-11, NABOKV-L <NABOKV-L@HOLYCROSS.EDU> escribió:
De: NABOKV-L <NABOKV-L@HOLYCROSS.EDU>
Asunto: [NABOKV-L] QUERY: Did Nabokov actually say this?
A: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Fecha: miércoles, 15 de junio de 2011, 12:44
[Jeremy Jones sends the following query. It sounds to me like advice on how to follow VN's example, written by someone who admires him. -- SES]
Hello all,
I've seen this various places attributed to VN, but it doesn't quite sound like him. No source either. Did he actually say this?
========
Nabokov's advice to a young writer
1. If possible, be Russian. And live in another country. Play chess. Be an active trader between languages. Carry precious metals from one to the other. Remind us of Stravinsky. Know the names of plants and flying creatures. Hunt gauzy wings with snares of gauze. Make science pay tribute. Have a butterfly known by your name.
2. Do not be awed by giant predecessors. Be ill-tempered with their renown. Point out flaws. Frighten interviewers from Time. Appear in Playboy. Sell to the movies.
3. Use unlikely materials. Who would choose Pnin as hero, but how did we live before Pnin?
4. Delight in perversity. Put a noun into the dictionary. Now we recognize the Lolita at every corner, see her sucking sweetened milk through straws at every soda fountain, dream her through all our fantasies.
5. Burn pedants in pale fire. Accept no fashions. Be your own fashion. Do not rely on earlier triumphs. Be new at each appearance.
6. Age indomitably, in the European manner. Do not finish your labours young. Be a planet, not a meteor. Honor the working day. Sit at your desk.
Vladimir Nabokov (1899 – 1977)
Search the archive
Contact the Editors
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal"
Visit Zembla
View Nabokv-L Policies
Manage subscription options
All private editorial communications, without
exception, are
read by both co-editors.
Search archive with Google:
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 Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/
Kutzi Montserrat
--- El mié 15-jun-11, NABOKV-L <NABOKV-L@HOLYCROSS.EDU> escribió:
De: NABOKV-L <NABOKV-L@HOLYCROSS.EDU>
Asunto: [NABOKV-L] QUERY: Did Nabokov actually say this?
A: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Fecha: miércoles, 15 de junio de 2011, 12:44
[Jeremy Jones sends the following query. It sounds to me like advice on how to follow VN's example, written by someone who admires him. -- SES]
Hello all,
I've seen this various places attributed to VN, but it doesn't quite sound like him. No source either. Did he actually say this?
========
Nabokov's advice to a young writer
1. If possible, be Russian. And live in another country. Play chess. Be an active trader between languages. Carry precious metals from one to the other. Remind us of Stravinsky. Know the names of plants and flying creatures. Hunt gauzy wings with snares of gauze. Make science pay tribute. Have a butterfly known by your name.
2. Do not be awed by giant predecessors. Be ill-tempered with their renown. Point out flaws. Frighten interviewers from Time. Appear in Playboy. Sell to the movies.
3. Use unlikely materials. Who would choose Pnin as hero, but how did we live before Pnin?
4. Delight in perversity. Put a noun into the dictionary. Now we recognize the Lolita at every corner, see her sucking sweetened milk through straws at every soda fountain, dream her through all our fantasies.
5. Burn pedants in pale fire. Accept no fashions. Be your own fashion. Do not rely on earlier triumphs. Be new at each appearance.
6. Age indomitably, in the European manner. Do not finish your labours young. Be a planet, not a meteor. Honor the working day. Sit at your desk.
Vladimir Nabokov (1899 – 1977)
Search the archive
Contact the Editors
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal"
Visit Zembla
View Nabokv-L Policies
Manage subscription options
All private editorial communications, without
exception, are
read by both co-editors.
Search archive with Google:
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 Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/