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Re: Fw: [NABOKOV-L] On plums and Bend Sinister,PS
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JM: Carolyn Kunin spotted a typo qua Sybil Shade's translation from "Odelette," when I mentined that it was written by Henri de Régnier ( 1804-1936) .
She wrote, off-list:
"Your French poet seems to combine two life-spans... Henri de was born in 1864 according to my Oxford Companion to French Literature." Thanks, Carolyn.
Anyway, A.Stadlen's clarification led me back to Lolita... Besides various "Clare" ( sometimes, quipped by HH as "Clare Obscure") which might have been abbreviations for "Clarence", I found previews of Kinbotean insertions, addressing his editor and complaining about the lack of a good library in his cage (not "cave")
Lolita ( Foreword by J.Ray Jr)
"His lawyer, my good friend and relation, Clarence Choate Clark, Esq., now of he District of Columbia bar, in asking me to edit the manuscript, based his request on a clause in his client's will which empowered my eminent cousin to use his discretion in all matters pertaining to the preparation of "Lolita" for print."
Lolita ( from the manuscript confessions )
1. HH addressing his "editor" Clarence and offering an astonishing preview of Clare Quilty ( as "Aunt Clare"):
"...appeared (I notice the slip of my pen in the preceding paragraph, but please do not correct it, Clarence) in The Murdered Playwright
Was pink pig Mr. Swoon absolutely sure my wife had not telephoned? He was. If she did, would he tell her we had gone on to Aunt Clare's place?"
2. HH writing in a spirit similar to C.Kinbote from his Cedarn Cave:
"...(this is not too clear I am afraid, Clarence, but I did not keep any notes, and have at my disposal only an atrociously crippled tour book in three volumes, almost a symbol of my torn and tattered past, in which to check these recollections)..."
QUERY: Who edited the final manuscript after all?
If it was John Ray Jr. why did he leave HH's instructions to his lawyer-cousin, Clarence, in it?
The latter was hired not as an editor, but in relation to "a clause in his client's will which empowered my eminent cousin to use his discretion..." Was Clarence C.C. Esq. a criminal lawyer? Under what capacity was he hired by HH?
Bibliography about "Lolita" is so extensive as to be totally overwhelming and mind-twisting.
Perhaps the List can offer a short-cut or allow itself to redundantly open old & settled issues?
(HH's writings were not material for a psychiatrist's "clinical case", nor were they a raving pervert's tactics to get his aquittal in court while under the care of Dr. JRJr. They were addressed to an imaginary jury, but clearly written to be printed as an autobiographical novel.)
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She wrote, off-list:
"Your French poet seems to combine two life-spans... Henri de was born in 1864 according to my Oxford Companion to French Literature." Thanks, Carolyn.
Anyway, A.Stadlen's clarification led me back to Lolita... Besides various "Clare" ( sometimes, quipped by HH as "Clare Obscure") which might have been abbreviations for "Clarence", I found previews of Kinbotean insertions, addressing his editor and complaining about the lack of a good library in his cage (not "cave")
Lolita ( Foreword by J.Ray Jr)
"His lawyer, my good friend and relation, Clarence Choate Clark, Esq., now of he District of Columbia bar, in asking me to edit the manuscript, based his request on a clause in his client's will which empowered my eminent cousin to use his discretion in all matters pertaining to the preparation of "Lolita" for print."
Lolita ( from the manuscript confessions )
1. HH addressing his "editor" Clarence and offering an astonishing preview of Clare Quilty ( as "Aunt Clare"):
"...appeared (I notice the slip of my pen in the preceding paragraph, but please do not correct it, Clarence) in The Murdered Playwright
Was pink pig Mr. Swoon absolutely sure my wife had not telephoned? He was. If she did, would he tell her we had gone on to Aunt Clare's place?"
2. HH writing in a spirit similar to C.Kinbote from his Cedarn Cave:
"...(this is not too clear I am afraid, Clarence, but I did not keep any notes, and have at my disposal only an atrociously crippled tour book in three volumes, almost a symbol of my torn and tattered past, in which to check these recollections)..."
QUERY: Who edited the final manuscript after all?
If it was John Ray Jr. why did he leave HH's instructions to his lawyer-cousin, Clarence, in it?
The latter was hired not as an editor, but in relation to "a clause in his client's will which empowered my eminent cousin to use his discretion..." Was Clarence C.C. Esq. a criminal lawyer? Under what capacity was he hired by HH?
Bibliography about "Lolita" is so extensive as to be totally overwhelming and mind-twisting.
Perhaps the List can offer a short-cut or allow itself to redundantly open old & settled issues?
(HH's writings were not material for a psychiatrist's "clinical case", nor were they a raving pervert's tactics to get his aquittal in court while under the care of Dr. JRJr. They were addressed to an imaginary jury, but clearly written to be printed as an autobiographical 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/