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[NABOKOV-L] An amusing contrast in PF's lines about "human life"
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Someone quoted Nabokov in a blog and chose to represent him through Kinbote.
After I compared Shade's words ( in a poem) with Kinbote's (a footnote), I decidedly preferred CK's.
When I set both lines side by side I realized something I hadn't noticed before: Shade writes a poem about "life as a poem," whereas Kinbote's footnote is about "life as a footnote" Neat.
Kinbote's rendering is equally applicable to TOoL, although who authors the "unfinished masterpiece" remains undisclosable.
Man's life as commentary to abstruse
Unfinished poem. Note for further use.
(John Shade, PF,lines 939-40)
".our poet suggests here that human life is but a series of footnotes to a vast obscure unfinished masterpiece."
(Charles Kinbote, footnote to lines 939-40)
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After I compared Shade's words ( in a poem) with Kinbote's (a footnote), I decidedly preferred CK's.
When I set both lines side by side I realized something I hadn't noticed before: Shade writes a poem about "life as a poem," whereas Kinbote's footnote is about "life as a footnote" Neat.
Kinbote's rendering is equally applicable to TOoL, although who authors the "unfinished masterpiece" remains undisclosable.
Man's life as commentary to abstruse
Unfinished poem. Note for further use.
(John Shade, PF,lines 939-40)
".our poet suggests here that human life is but a series of footnotes to a vast obscure unfinished masterpiece."
(Charles Kinbote, footnote to lines 939-40)
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/