Subject
[NABOKOV-L] A modern detective novel with heroic couplets by Fred
Vargas
Vargas
From
Date
Body
Some time ago I brought up a French detective writer's name in connection to Matt Roth's theories about Nabokovian "versipel" and werewolves ( Fred Vargas: "Seeking whom he may devour").
Now I chose to mention her once again (2006, "Dans les Bois Éternels"), because the translation of this novel might bring up problems that are similar to the translation of John Shade's verses, among other issues concerning literary criticism.
This time Vargas has loaded her novel with alexandrines incessantly recited by a policeman, Veyrenc who, as compulsively now as in the past when he heard his grandmother recite Racine (Dryden's contemporary), expresses his feelings and thoughts in heroic couplets. Veyrenc's dodecassilabic outpour is considered an affliction, often with comic effect.
A revelatory sample of one of his musings: "Hélas, je ne le puis, Seigneur, car tout m'y porte/Le sang de mon ancêtre à ce péché m'exhorte".
Veyrenc's compulsion allows Fred Vargas to explore her talents in seventeenth-century verse and get them published as an integral part of the novel.
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Now I chose to mention her once again (2006, "Dans les Bois Éternels"), because the translation of this novel might bring up problems that are similar to the translation of John Shade's verses, among other issues concerning literary criticism.
This time Vargas has loaded her novel with alexandrines incessantly recited by a policeman, Veyrenc who, as compulsively now as in the past when he heard his grandmother recite Racine (Dryden's contemporary), expresses his feelings and thoughts in heroic couplets. Veyrenc's dodecassilabic outpour is considered an affliction, often with comic effect.
A revelatory sample of one of his musings: "Hélas, je ne le puis, Seigneur, car tout m'y porte/Le sang de mon ancêtre à ce péché m'exhorte".
Veyrenc's compulsion allows Fred Vargas to explore her talents in seventeenth-century verse and get them published as an integral part of the novel.
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/