Subject
Hazel's unattractiveness (Shade's shallowness)
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Date
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Walter Miale wrote: "I don't see how Shade's poem can be regarded as an
unalloyed masterpiece or the work of a major poet. But I don't think
this
issue "upset(s) the whole moral balance of the book," as Elspeth
Jajdelska
suggests it might... And I don't think NABOKOV'S poem, Pale Fire, is
diminished by the sins of John Shade... Isn't the book enriched with yet
another distorted reflection of the world? "
I couldn't agree more. Actually, I think that something has changed in
the
way we've been discussing VN's work: aren't we less encumbered by
special
kind of morality that forced us to find the "essential goodness and
badness"
in a writer or in his characters to be able to allow ourselves to enjoy
his
work without feeling guilty? I have in mind Rorty's preface to PF (
also an
essay on the Barber of Kasbeam), but now I'm not so sure it was Rorty
who
emphasized the qualities he found in Nabokov by quoting John Shade's
words
about "pity".
The poet who wrote Pale Fire was not a very nice guy - as Jajdelska
carefully laid it out and brought this matter again to our discussion.
Why
would he have to be nice to be a good poet? What one must expect from a
poet is, to put it simply, that he writes good poetry.
Some poets are despised or adored simply because of their religions and
overt prejudices ( Pound and Eliot are the ones that I remember in
connection to VN's own opinions) and I suppose this may have arisen more
clearly as a consequence of the romantic ideal about the "artist as a
model"
or the association btw the artist himself and his artistic achievements
( I
mean the quality of an artist's political ideas, not his wisdom or his
morals, one has only to remember Byron...).
And yet, sometimes poets can be like a "seer". Although we may notice
how
Kinbote tries to make Shade fit into the role of a prophet ( he makes
Shade
anticipate future events), I suppose this is aspect might only fit as
one of
Nabokov's many ploys to try the reader's vigilance.
Jansy
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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
unalloyed masterpiece or the work of a major poet. But I don't think
this
issue "upset(s) the whole moral balance of the book," as Elspeth
Jajdelska
suggests it might... And I don't think NABOKOV'S poem, Pale Fire, is
diminished by the sins of John Shade... Isn't the book enriched with yet
another distorted reflection of the world? "
I couldn't agree more. Actually, I think that something has changed in
the
way we've been discussing VN's work: aren't we less encumbered by
special
kind of morality that forced us to find the "essential goodness and
badness"
in a writer or in his characters to be able to allow ourselves to enjoy
his
work without feeling guilty? I have in mind Rorty's preface to PF (
also an
essay on the Barber of Kasbeam), but now I'm not so sure it was Rorty
who
emphasized the qualities he found in Nabokov by quoting John Shade's
words
about "pity".
The poet who wrote Pale Fire was not a very nice guy - as Jajdelska
carefully laid it out and brought this matter again to our discussion.
Why
would he have to be nice to be a good poet? What one must expect from a
poet is, to put it simply, that he writes good poetry.
Some poets are despised or adored simply because of their religions and
overt prejudices ( Pound and Eliot are the ones that I remember in
connection to VN's own opinions) and I suppose this may have arisen more
clearly as a consequence of the romantic ideal about the "artist as a
model"
or the association btw the artist himself and his artistic achievements
( I
mean the quality of an artist's political ideas, not his wisdom or his
morals, one has only to remember Byron...).
And yet, sometimes poets can be like a "seer". Although we may notice
how
Kinbote tries to make Shade fit into the role of a prophet ( he makes
Shade
anticipate future events), I suppose this is aspect might only fit as
one of
Nabokov's many ploys to try the reader's vigilance.
Jansy
Search the archive: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/archives/nabokv-l.html
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