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[NABOKOV-L] Shura Tobak: a web of...sense?
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Surprises... there are always surprises in Nabokov...This time, related to Shura and Arhus ( in Denmark). I still don't grasp the authorial intention that might lurk in the paragraphs about snobbish Cordula Tobak (or the Cabots), but there is a web of sense holding up the most convoluted remarks.
A friend just sent me an email with images from the Danish town "Arhus" (an anagram for "Shura"). Tickled by the coincidence, I decided to check for any reference, in "Ada," related to Denmark ( there are always some links thru Hamlet and Elsinore). I found a paragraph about Cordula's ancestors. '...Cordula is now Mrs Ivan G. Tobak. They are making follies in Florence. Here's her last postcard. Portrait of Vladimir Christian of Denmark, who, she claims, is the dead spit of her Ivan Giovanovich. Have a look.' // 'Who cares for Sustermans,' observed Lucette, with something of her uterine sister's knight move of specious response, or a Latin footballer's rovesciata."
From the book on "Vladimir Nabokov and the Art of Painting," (Don, de Vries, L.Ashenden) I learned that Lucette's remark about the Sustermans refers to an obscure Flemish painter named Joos Susterman, but I'm still in the dark about why this is a knight's "move of specious response....a rovesciata." can relate to the Susterman, or the painter Joos to the (lowly) violinist called Shura Tobak. So, taking my cue from Arhus and Cordula's "Christian Vladimir" ancestor, I googled his two names, hoping to find out more about "Shura."
Here is what I (indirectly... surprisingly) found:
"Islam and the Decline of Greek Culture: A Critical Look at John Freely's Book "Aladdin's Lamp" ( From the desk of Fjordman on Wed, 2009-04-01 07:29) "I have published a brief early review of The House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Transformed Western Civilization by Jonathan Lyons at the Gates of Vienna blog [...] Historian J. M. Roberts, who is not good at all when it comes to Islamic Jihad but is otherwise worth reading, writes in The New Penguin History of the World: "In 980 a series of dynastic struggles ended with the victorious emergence of the prince who made Russia Christian, Vladimir....[who] at first he showed the ostentatious paganism which became a Viking warlord.... Russians treasure the story that Islam was rejected by him because it forbade alcoholic drink. The Bulgarians, they reported, smelt. The Germans had nothing to offer. But Constantinople had won their hearts...Around about 986-8 Vladimir accepted Orthodox Christianity for himself and his people. It was a turning point in Russian history and culture..."
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A friend just sent me an email with images from the Danish town "Arhus" (an anagram for "Shura"). Tickled by the coincidence, I decided to check for any reference, in "Ada," related to Denmark ( there are always some links thru Hamlet and Elsinore). I found a paragraph about Cordula's ancestors. '...Cordula is now Mrs Ivan G. Tobak. They are making follies in Florence. Here's her last postcard. Portrait of Vladimir Christian of Denmark, who, she claims, is the dead spit of her Ivan Giovanovich. Have a look.' // 'Who cares for Sustermans,' observed Lucette, with something of her uterine sister's knight move of specious response, or a Latin footballer's rovesciata."
From the book on "Vladimir Nabokov and the Art of Painting," (Don, de Vries, L.Ashenden) I learned that Lucette's remark about the Sustermans refers to an obscure Flemish painter named Joos Susterman, but I'm still in the dark about why this is a knight's "move of specious response....a rovesciata." can relate to the Susterman, or the painter Joos to the (lowly) violinist called Shura Tobak. So, taking my cue from Arhus and Cordula's "Christian Vladimir" ancestor, I googled his two names, hoping to find out more about "Shura."
Here is what I (indirectly... surprisingly) found:
"Islam and the Decline of Greek Culture: A Critical Look at John Freely's Book "Aladdin's Lamp" ( From the desk of Fjordman on Wed, 2009-04-01 07:29) "I have published a brief early review of The House of Wisdom: How the Arabs Transformed Western Civilization by Jonathan Lyons at the Gates of Vienna blog [...] Historian J. M. Roberts, who is not good at all when it comes to Islamic Jihad but is otherwise worth reading, writes in The New Penguin History of the World: "In 980 a series of dynastic struggles ended with the victorious emergence of the prince who made Russia Christian, Vladimir....[who] at first he showed the ostentatious paganism which became a Viking warlord.... Russians treasure the story that Islam was rejected by him because it forbade alcoholic drink. The Bulgarians, they reported, smelt. The Germans had nothing to offer. But Constantinople had won their hearts...Around about 986-8 Vladimir accepted Orthodox Christianity for himself and his people. It was a turning point in Russian history and culture..."
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/