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Re: Fwd: Banville and Nabokov
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For my money, Banville is a much better example of a contemporary novelist who
has deeply, and favorably, influenced by VN than the much more celebrated
Martin Amis. A much better novelist as well. Banville's most Nabokovian
novel is "Athena," which contains many passages that are outright homages to
VN, including the following:
"The first time I hear of Mother she had been born in America, in Savannah, or
Louisana, or some other homonymous bayou of the Deep South, into a family of
ancient lineage; in subsequent accounts, however, the birthplace shifted to
Mississippi, then Missouri, and once even, if my ears did not deceive me, to
Missoula, which my atlas tells me, is a town in the Rocky Moutains in the
northerly state of Montana, to where I, Melmoth the Bereft, shall journey on
that circumferential pilgrimage I intend one of these days to undertake in
search of my lost love. But Missoula! - where on earth did she get that from?
her father, she said, was Swiss. He had been - I heard it coming before she
said it - a diplomat in the foreign service, and she had been brought up all
over the place; and indeed, in her sleep she often spoke in what seemed to me
foreign languages. (By the way, why is it, I wonder, that I always take up
with restless sleepers?) About Daddy, ominous hints were dropped; I pictured
a dark, sleek-haired gentilhomme, sinisterly handsome - see his skier's tan,
his chocolate-dark eyes, his multi-jewelled watch - idly fondly a pale little
girl perched in his lap."
Banville, "Athena" Vintage paperback, 1996, pp. 122 -123.
________________________________
From: Vladimir Nabokov Forum on behalf of Donald B. Johnson
Sent: Sat 2/12/2005 5:59 PM
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Subject: Re: Fwd: Banville and Nabokov
Thanks to Tom and Michael for these interesting connections.
Best
Brian Howell
On Wed, 9 Feb 2005 19:29:17 -0800, "Donald B. Johnson"
<chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu> said:
> Although I did not notice Nabokovian echoes in "Shroud", the earlier
> companion
> novel, "Eclipse", has a clear reference to "Lolita" and perhaps other
> Nabokov
> works. There is a Lolita-like girl (although no pedophilia) and a ghost
> plot
> that has parallels to certain theories about Hazel Shade's role in "Pale
> Fire."
>
> For what it's worth, in interviews Banville has acknowledged Nabokov's
> influence.
>
> Tom Walker
>
> Quoting "Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>:
>
> > ----- Forwarded message from mmillea@ifone.com -----
> > Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2005 18:57:20 -0000 (GMT)
> > From: Michael Millea <mmillea@ifone.com>
> >
> >
> >
> > Here is Nabokov-de Man link. Nabokov left Cornell in January 1959, and
> > Paul de Man, with his newly minted Harvard doctorate, was hired by Cornell
> > in 1960. Since de Man was a former Nazi and the author of a number of
> > shrill, trashy anti-Semitic diatribes, Nabokov, whose views on
> > anti-Semitism are well known, probably would have thought he left Cornell
> > at just the right time.
> >
> > Although I've never come across any evidence that Nabokov was even aware
> > of de Man, two of his creations, Professor Hagen and Bodo Falternfels,
> > give some indication that he must have bumped into similar postwar
> > flotsam.
> >
> > Michael
> >
> > > Andrew - you may be right there, though I just read a review and
> > > apparently the critic (?) Paul de Man was part-inspiration for the
> > > narrator. I wonder if there is a Nabokov-de Man link. That would be an
> > > interesting connection.
> > >
> > > Brian Howell
>
> ----- End forwarded message -----
http://www.windriverpress.com/titles/studyofsleep.html
http://www.tobypress.com/books/dance_geometry.htm
? http://www.elasticpress.com/sound_of_white_ants.htm
----- End forwarded message -----
----- End forwarded message -----
has deeply, and favorably, influenced by VN than the much more celebrated
Martin Amis. A much better novelist as well. Banville's most Nabokovian
novel is "Athena," which contains many passages that are outright homages to
VN, including the following:
"The first time I hear of Mother she had been born in America, in Savannah, or
Louisana, or some other homonymous bayou of the Deep South, into a family of
ancient lineage; in subsequent accounts, however, the birthplace shifted to
Mississippi, then Missouri, and once even, if my ears did not deceive me, to
Missoula, which my atlas tells me, is a town in the Rocky Moutains in the
northerly state of Montana, to where I, Melmoth the Bereft, shall journey on
that circumferential pilgrimage I intend one of these days to undertake in
search of my lost love. But Missoula! - where on earth did she get that from?
her father, she said, was Swiss. He had been - I heard it coming before she
said it - a diplomat in the foreign service, and she had been brought up all
over the place; and indeed, in her sleep she often spoke in what seemed to me
foreign languages. (By the way, why is it, I wonder, that I always take up
with restless sleepers?) About Daddy, ominous hints were dropped; I pictured
a dark, sleek-haired gentilhomme, sinisterly handsome - see his skier's tan,
his chocolate-dark eyes, his multi-jewelled watch - idly fondly a pale little
girl perched in his lap."
Banville, "Athena" Vintage paperback, 1996, pp. 122 -123.
________________________________
From: Vladimir Nabokov Forum on behalf of Donald B. Johnson
Sent: Sat 2/12/2005 5:59 PM
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Subject: Re: Fwd: Banville and Nabokov
Thanks to Tom and Michael for these interesting connections.
Best
Brian Howell
On Wed, 9 Feb 2005 19:29:17 -0800, "Donald B. Johnson"
<chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu> said:
> Although I did not notice Nabokovian echoes in "Shroud", the earlier
> companion
> novel, "Eclipse", has a clear reference to "Lolita" and perhaps other
> Nabokov
> works. There is a Lolita-like girl (although no pedophilia) and a ghost
> plot
> that has parallels to certain theories about Hazel Shade's role in "Pale
> Fire."
>
> For what it's worth, in interviews Banville has acknowledged Nabokov's
> influence.
>
> Tom Walker
>
> Quoting "Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>:
>
> > ----- Forwarded message from mmillea@ifone.com -----
> > Date: Wed, 9 Feb 2005 18:57:20 -0000 (GMT)
> > From: Michael Millea <mmillea@ifone.com>
> >
> >
> >
> > Here is Nabokov-de Man link. Nabokov left Cornell in January 1959, and
> > Paul de Man, with his newly minted Harvard doctorate, was hired by Cornell
> > in 1960. Since de Man was a former Nazi and the author of a number of
> > shrill, trashy anti-Semitic diatribes, Nabokov, whose views on
> > anti-Semitism are well known, probably would have thought he left Cornell
> > at just the right time.
> >
> > Although I've never come across any evidence that Nabokov was even aware
> > of de Man, two of his creations, Professor Hagen and Bodo Falternfels,
> > give some indication that he must have bumped into similar postwar
> > flotsam.
> >
> > Michael
> >
> > > Andrew - you may be right there, though I just read a review and
> > > apparently the critic (?) Paul de Man was part-inspiration for the
> > > narrator. I wonder if there is a Nabokov-de Man link. That would be an
> > > interesting connection.
> > >
> > > Brian Howell
>
> ----- End forwarded message -----
http://www.windriverpress.com/titles/studyofsleep.html
http://www.tobypress.com/books/dance_geometry.htm
? http://www.elasticpress.com/sound_of_white_ants.htm
----- End forwarded message -----
----- End forwarded message -----