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Re: Fwd: Banville and Nabokov
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I don't know to whom I am replying -- this last post bears no signature --
and since I've read no Banville other than the specimen quoted below, I
cannot judge whether Banville or Amis is the contemporary novelist most
influenced by Nabokov. But the idea that there is some sort of competition
for this title is questionable, and not one that I think Amis would welcome
as a way of analyzing his work. Novelists who are any good get their
influences under control and go about the business of becoming themselves.
There are a number of phrases and narrative devices in Amis's work that
indicate a high regard for Nabokov. But, Nabokov or not, Amis would still
have been a novelist. And there is much about Amis's work that Nabokov would
have disliked intensely. Amis certainly knows this, and has held his own
course all the same. The quote below, whether it's judged as an example of
Nabokovian influence, or simply of Banville's skills as a novelist, is
unimpressive. I give Banville the benefit of the doubt to the extent that
what is quoted may, I hope, have simply been badly typed.
How familiar is this narrator with English? "The first time I HEAR of
Mother she HAD been born in America, in Savannah, or Louisiana, 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 Mountains in the northerly state of
Montana ...."
This sentence is a catastrophe. "The first time I hear of Mother..." Does
this person mean the past tense "heard"? And is it the mother who is unclear
about U.S. geography, or is it Banville? Savannah is a city in Georgia;
Louisianna is a state. Louisianna has bayous; Savannah does not. Whatever a
"homonymous bayou" may be is a mystery, but it is more than just a casual
narrative stmble that takes one from the bayou to the high plains of
Missoula. The confusion over Mississippi, Missouri, and points north sounds
more less like befuddlement on the part of the narrator, planned by the
author, than it sounds like the ineptitude of an author leafing through a
school book, looking for some local color. The narrator's atlas says (shows,
rather) that Missoula is a town in Montana. But Missoula is a city in
Montana. A small point? There are no small points. Writing novels is a
business of making hundreds of small decisions every day, and of getting
them right.
"...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..." This may be intended to parody Humbert Humbert,
or it may be an outrageous and unforgivable attempt to ride on Nabokov's
coat tails, but an homage it is not. Nor is a cliche such as "ancient
lineage" somehow Nabokovian. "My LOST LOVE ...?" This is a patchwork of
exhausted phrase-making.
The narrator has heard from his mother that her father was Swiss. Is this
supposed to make us think of Humbert's father?
He is "a diplomat is the foreign service ... brought up "all over the
place." Not exactly a sharp, definitive description. Banville can be
forgiven if this is intended to be willfully bad, like the short
autobiography that Jay Gatsby gives Nick Carraway. If not, it's a
gallimauffery of cliches.
"And indeed, in her sleep she often spoke in what seemed to me foreign
languages."
Where and how did this dimly imagined vagrant mother pick up these "foreign"
languages? Between Savannah and Missoula? And what are they? Italian?
Ukrainian? Urdu? Or is it simply English, which Banville seems to have
picked up from an online corresponence school.
"By the way ... I always take up with restless sleepers." What sparks this
thought? Is the narrator sleeping with his mother? "About Daddy OMINOUS
HINTS were dropped." These hints, however ominous, seem to amount only to
Daddy's being a dark, sleek-haired French gentleman sort of fellow,
"sinisterly" handsome..." Sounds like Rhett Butler. Multi-jeweled watch?
No. Undoubtedly the Nabokovian bit is that this cartoon is "idly fondly"
(fondling?) a pale little girl perched in his lap."
Please don't tell me the last item is an "homage" to Nabokov. Considering
that this is such a small sample of Banville's work,
I will withhold my judgement. It's possible that, if there was some humorous
intent behind these lines, Banville may not be as vague and untalented as he
seems. But I can't say I'm in any hurry to read Athena.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Sent: Sunday, February 13, 2005 1:17 AM
Subject: Re: Fwd: Banville and Nabokov
> 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 -----
----- End forwarded message -----
and since I've read no Banville other than the specimen quoted below, I
cannot judge whether Banville or Amis is the contemporary novelist most
influenced by Nabokov. But the idea that there is some sort of competition
for this title is questionable, and not one that I think Amis would welcome
as a way of analyzing his work. Novelists who are any good get their
influences under control and go about the business of becoming themselves.
There are a number of phrases and narrative devices in Amis's work that
indicate a high regard for Nabokov. But, Nabokov or not, Amis would still
have been a novelist. And there is much about Amis's work that Nabokov would
have disliked intensely. Amis certainly knows this, and has held his own
course all the same. The quote below, whether it's judged as an example of
Nabokovian influence, or simply of Banville's skills as a novelist, is
unimpressive. I give Banville the benefit of the doubt to the extent that
what is quoted may, I hope, have simply been badly typed.
How familiar is this narrator with English? "The first time I HEAR of
Mother she HAD been born in America, in Savannah, or Louisiana, 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 Mountains in the northerly state of
Montana ...."
This sentence is a catastrophe. "The first time I hear of Mother..." Does
this person mean the past tense "heard"? And is it the mother who is unclear
about U.S. geography, or is it Banville? Savannah is a city in Georgia;
Louisianna is a state. Louisianna has bayous; Savannah does not. Whatever a
"homonymous bayou" may be is a mystery, but it is more than just a casual
narrative stmble that takes one from the bayou to the high plains of
Missoula. The confusion over Mississippi, Missouri, and points north sounds
more less like befuddlement on the part of the narrator, planned by the
author, than it sounds like the ineptitude of an author leafing through a
school book, looking for some local color. The narrator's atlas says (shows,
rather) that Missoula is a town in Montana. But Missoula is a city in
Montana. A small point? There are no small points. Writing novels is a
business of making hundreds of small decisions every day, and of getting
them right.
"...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..." This may be intended to parody Humbert Humbert,
or it may be an outrageous and unforgivable attempt to ride on Nabokov's
coat tails, but an homage it is not. Nor is a cliche such as "ancient
lineage" somehow Nabokovian. "My LOST LOVE ...?" This is a patchwork of
exhausted phrase-making.
The narrator has heard from his mother that her father was Swiss. Is this
supposed to make us think of Humbert's father?
He is "a diplomat is the foreign service ... brought up "all over the
place." Not exactly a sharp, definitive description. Banville can be
forgiven if this is intended to be willfully bad, like the short
autobiography that Jay Gatsby gives Nick Carraway. If not, it's a
gallimauffery of cliches.
"And indeed, in her sleep she often spoke in what seemed to me foreign
languages."
Where and how did this dimly imagined vagrant mother pick up these "foreign"
languages? Between Savannah and Missoula? And what are they? Italian?
Ukrainian? Urdu? Or is it simply English, which Banville seems to have
picked up from an online corresponence school.
"By the way ... I always take up with restless sleepers." What sparks this
thought? Is the narrator sleeping with his mother? "About Daddy OMINOUS
HINTS were dropped." These hints, however ominous, seem to amount only to
Daddy's being a dark, sleek-haired French gentleman sort of fellow,
"sinisterly" handsome..." Sounds like Rhett Butler. Multi-jeweled watch?
No. Undoubtedly the Nabokovian bit is that this cartoon is "idly fondly"
(fondling?) a pale little girl perched in his lap."
Please don't tell me the last item is an "homage" to Nabokov. Considering
that this is such a small sample of Banville's work,
I will withhold my judgement. It's possible that, if there was some humorous
intent behind these lines, Banville may not be as vague and untalented as he
seems. But I can't say I'm in any hurry to read Athena.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Sent: Sunday, February 13, 2005 1:17 AM
Subject: Re: Fwd: Banville and Nabokov
> 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 -----
----- End forwarded message -----