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Re: [NABOKOV - LIST] : signs and symbols, chapter three and four
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Mary Krimmel wrote:
"Of course he could have his hands clasped, or he could be covering his
ears, or massaging his neck. What difference does it make? The bed's untidy
and the man could be seen, his trousers and elbows could be seen, but likely
not much else about his position. No reason to say what is probably not even
knowable to someone looking at the windows."
But it does make a difference and the writing makes us think through all
these cinematic possibilities. It made me experiment to confirm where my
elbows would be in different positions, and made me more aware of elbows and
how they can appear. My theory that the man has his hands over his face and
the other possibilities, such as wings (in case his elbows are out to the
side and not sticking up at a right angle to his lying supine) present
different images and meanings that enrich reading the text. (And putting on
a necklace and taking off a necklace require elbows to be less in motion, to
respond I think to Jansy Mello, than the need for the elbows to be very
still while the fingers are in motion during this "activity" in time of
clasping or unclasping. Clasping and unclasping relate also to twitching, a
word that was used twice in "Signs and Symbols"--the unfledged bird in a
puddle (shimmering iridescence again--nacreous) and the father's hands.)
Barrie Karp
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"Of course he could have his hands clasped, or he could be covering his
ears, or massaging his neck. What difference does it make? The bed's untidy
and the man could be seen, his trousers and elbows could be seen, but likely
not much else about his position. No reason to say what is probably not even
knowable to someone looking at the windows."
But it does make a difference and the writing makes us think through all
these cinematic possibilities. It made me experiment to confirm where my
elbows would be in different positions, and made me more aware of elbows and
how they can appear. My theory that the man has his hands over his face and
the other possibilities, such as wings (in case his elbows are out to the
side and not sticking up at a right angle to his lying supine) present
different images and meanings that enrich reading the text. (And putting on
a necklace and taking off a necklace require elbows to be less in motion, to
respond I think to Jansy Mello, than the need for the elbows to be very
still while the fingers are in motion during this "activity" in time of
clasping or unclasping. Clasping and unclasping relate also to twitching, a
word that was used twice in "Signs and Symbols"--the unfledged bird in a
puddle (shimmering iridescence again--nacreous) and the father's hands.)
Barrie Karp
Search the archive: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/archives/nabokv-l.html
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