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Re: THOUGHTS: Confessions re: Wilde and VN
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I'm not sure why Studdard has such a built in either/or here. Why can't we have a Nabokov who lives and thrives a long time balanced with Wilde. I mean after all Lolita, like Dorian Gray, is fantastically iconic; both are much better known then their books are read, though I personally think Lolita is more effective as a novel than Dorian Gray, which seems a little melodramatic in the Sybil Vane bits, as well as seeming homosexual without quite being so, an evasion refreshingly absent in Lolita; on the other hand who would put down a play like The Importance of being Earnest, which is wonderful. About whose letters will survive, I would not know, but I'd wager you're probably right on that front--the N. and Wilson collection is surely just for Nabokov nerds, though in the spirit of which letters will be more immortal than thou, aren't the ones exchanged between Flaubert and Louise Colet, or Flaubert and George Sand even more likely than all of them to continue to be read?
J. Aisenberg.
Nabokv-L <nabokv-l@UTK.EDU> wrote:
[EDNote: I hope Mr. Studdard's comments will be taken with the grain of
salt his entertaining list of favorites suggests. BTW, for those who may
not have noticed, we made the quarterly EDSwitch on July 1, and I am now
your humble servant for the next three months. ~SB]
Dear List: My five most favorite books: 1)The Picture of Dorian Gray
2) The Picture of Dorian Gray 3) The Picture of Dorian Gray 4) The
Picture of Dorian Gray 5) Lolita.
The above nonsensical declension does two things, a) It demonstrates
my affinity for Oscar Wilde and b) It serves as sort of an apology to LH
or others who might have thought my comments about Wilde and his ilk as
compared to Nabokov and his ilk (nil actually) was a bit testy and not
said in the spirit of what the list is all about; namely, scholarly
discussion of Nabokov. I will only say this and promise never to speak
of OW again in this forum. Wilde's body of works will long survive
Nabokov's. The Importance of being Earnest will be repeated in film and
in dramaturgical efforts long after Lolita is analyzed out of existence,
just as the letters between G. Bernard Shaw and Alfred Douglas will be
read long after the letters between Nabokov and Wilson are gathering
dust in the Political Science section of some obscure book store. There.
Said. Done. If I am now to be ex-communicated, please be gentle. J.
Studdard
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J. Aisenberg.
Nabokv-L <nabokv-l@UTK.EDU> wrote:
[EDNote: I hope Mr. Studdard's comments will be taken with the grain of
salt his entertaining list of favorites suggests. BTW, for those who may
not have noticed, we made the quarterly EDSwitch on July 1, and I am now
your humble servant for the next three months. ~SB]
Dear List: My five most favorite books: 1)The Picture of Dorian Gray
2) The Picture of Dorian Gray 3) The Picture of Dorian Gray 4) The
Picture of Dorian Gray 5) Lolita.
The above nonsensical declension does two things, a) It demonstrates
my affinity for Oscar Wilde and b) It serves as sort of an apology to LH
or others who might have thought my comments about Wilde and his ilk as
compared to Nabokov and his ilk (nil actually) was a bit testy and not
said in the spirit of what the list is all about; namely, scholarly
discussion of Nabokov. I will only say this and promise never to speak
of OW again in this forum. Wilde's body of works will long survive
Nabokov's. The Importance of being Earnest will be repeated in film and
in dramaturgical efforts long after Lolita is analyzed out of existence,
just as the letters between G. Bernard Shaw and Alfred Douglas will be
read long after the letters between Nabokov and Wilson are gathering
dust in the Political Science section of some obscure book store. There.
Said. Done. If I am now to be ex-communicated, please be gentle. J.
Studdard
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/
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/