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Re: QUERY: Down, Fido?
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Thank you all for enlightenment about the "Fido" (ie. Plato) passage. My
less than scholarly interpretation on first reading would explain how I
managed to change Plato to Fido over the years. It still gives me a laugh,
though!
Best, PN
On Tue, Apr 13, 2010 at 1:49 PM, Jansy <jansy@aetern.us> wrote:
> Petter Naess: *VN makes much of the lack of spontaneity in his
> "interviews", in which questions are submitted and VN's (written) responses
> are prepared beforehand. Sometimes he has a bit of fun with this by
> inserting faux spontaneity to create the illusion of an actual interview...
> in the midst of answering a literary question, pretends to be accosted by
> his dog (did he ever own a dog, btw?) and interjects "Down, Fido" (or
> something like that...), but now I'm unable to locate that passage*.
>
> *JM*: Yes, I remember the Fido thing. There must be two similar instances
> for, in the one I located (Vintage,p. 78), Nabokov doesn't mention Fido, but
> Plato: " I would say that imagination is a form of memory. Down, Plato,
> down, good dog. An image depends on the power of association...both memory
> and imagination are a negation of time...". He mentions Plato before
> (pages 69,70), probably later on too. Nabokov was not playing spontaneous
> as he seems to have been a forerunner of "neosincerity."
> His family owned dogs ( there were Box I, Box II...), his first love
> kept Floss; Quilty and Aunt Maud had a shaggy skye-terrier...I'm a cat
> person, so I cannot be more precise about dogs - which are platonically
> immaterial anyway.
> Search the archive<http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en> Contact
> the Editors <nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu> Visit "Nabokov
> Online Journal" <http://www.nabokovonline.com> Visit Zembla<http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm> View
> Nabokv-L Policies <http://web.utk.edu/%7Esblackwe/EDNote.htm> Manage
> subscription options <http://listserv.ucsb.edu/>
>
> All private editorial communications, without exception, are read by both
> co-editors.
>
--
Petter Næss
Kviståsveien 50
3400 Lier
Norway
home:(47) 32855521
cell: (47)90858476
work: (47) 21308802
http://knowbodies.blogspot.com
Twitter: petternaess
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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/
less than scholarly interpretation on first reading would explain how I
managed to change Plato to Fido over the years. It still gives me a laugh,
though!
Best, PN
On Tue, Apr 13, 2010 at 1:49 PM, Jansy <jansy@aetern.us> wrote:
> Petter Naess: *VN makes much of the lack of spontaneity in his
> "interviews", in which questions are submitted and VN's (written) responses
> are prepared beforehand. Sometimes he has a bit of fun with this by
> inserting faux spontaneity to create the illusion of an actual interview...
> in the midst of answering a literary question, pretends to be accosted by
> his dog (did he ever own a dog, btw?) and interjects "Down, Fido" (or
> something like that...), but now I'm unable to locate that passage*.
>
> *JM*: Yes, I remember the Fido thing. There must be two similar instances
> for, in the one I located (Vintage,p. 78), Nabokov doesn't mention Fido, but
> Plato: " I would say that imagination is a form of memory. Down, Plato,
> down, good dog. An image depends on the power of association...both memory
> and imagination are a negation of time...". He mentions Plato before
> (pages 69,70), probably later on too. Nabokov was not playing spontaneous
> as he seems to have been a forerunner of "neosincerity."
> His family owned dogs ( there were Box I, Box II...), his first love
> kept Floss; Quilty and Aunt Maud had a shaggy skye-terrier...I'm a cat
> person, so I cannot be more precise about dogs - which are platonically
> immaterial anyway.
> Search the archive<http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en> Contact
> the Editors <nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu> Visit "Nabokov
> Online Journal" <http://www.nabokovonline.com> Visit Zembla<http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm> View
> Nabokv-L Policies <http://web.utk.edu/%7Esblackwe/EDNote.htm> Manage
> subscription options <http://listserv.ucsb.edu/>
>
> All private editorial communications, without exception, are read by both
> co-editors.
>
--
Petter Næss
Kviståsveien 50
3400 Lier
Norway
home:(47) 32855521
cell: (47)90858476
work: (47) 21308802
http://knowbodies.blogspot.com
Twitter: petternaess
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/