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Re: Ada group reading?
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Dear ED
I hope that a comparison between what other scholars have written on Ada
will also be a way to avoid "rehashing the old".
For example you and Boyd in two different chapters: BBoyd in "Resistance and
Solution" and you in "Nabokov as a Maze Maker".
Boyd: " Though Ada´s "marybud" is another name for the marigold,
"mollyblob" and "maybubble" are inventions (...) Why does Nabokov invent
"mollyblob" and "maybubble" here? The answer is not easy, but it is
precise: the suggestion of popping in "maybubble" combines with "mollyblob"
to point unmistakably to Molly Bloom´s famous musing on the blob of a
ruptured hymen" ...Nabokov´s Ada, The Place of Consciousness", 2nd edition by
Cybereditions,
page 53.
Don B.Johnson: " It is a curious and significant fact that at leasst two of
VV´s wives have the letter sequence "BL" in their names (...) All of these
characters are related to Count Starov and it is their incestuous
consanguinity that is denoted by the alphabetic emblem "BL" in their names.
The sound sequence is, moreover, not randomnly chosen. As we have noted
previously in connection with "Ada", Nabokov denies any deep meaning in his
use of the incest theme, saying merely that he likes "the bl" soun in
siblings, bloom, blue, bliss, sable (SO 122-123). "BL" in Nabokov´s private
emblem for the incest theme (...) "Worlds in Regression: Some novels of Vladimir
Nabokov", Ardis publishers, 1985, page 139.
Don´t these intertextual emblematic blossomings get enriched by their sheer
approximation?
A question: Nabokov´s naming of the novel " Ada" was preceded by a project
involving christening it with the name " Juan". I vaguely remember reading
that before settling on the name "Lolita", VN had thought about chosing "
Juanita ". Can anyone tell me where the "Juanita" information is mentioned
by Nabokov? It struck me as a very curious insistence depicting Spanish
names and now, Juan/Juanita in particular.
-------------------------------------
EDNOTE. Yes, the two excerpts make a neat juxtaposition. I confess that until
your juxtaposition I had never linked the Mollyblob bit with the "BL".
Certainly worth thinking about. As is the BL of Lyublyu.
Boyd I, p. 169 reports that "Juanita Dark" (cf Joan of Arc) was one of the
names VN considered for Lolita
----- Original Message -----
From: "Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Sent: Friday, February 18, 2005 2:32 PM
Subject: Fwd: Ada reading?
> I dare say that I have missed the boat here, but is there any chance of
> a group reading of _Ada_? I hope that it's not deemed redundant by the
> appearance of BB's wonderful online annotations?
>
> Brian Howell
> 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 -----
> -------------------------------------------------------------
> EDRESPONSE. Brian Boyd's continuing annotations to ADA set an awesome
standard.
> This is not to say that the combined wisdom of NABOKV-L subscribers cannot
find
> new and valuable things to explicate. Rather than a "structured" group
reading
> that would inevitably duplicate what Brian already knows, I suggest that
> contributors focus on the materials in the existing on-line annotations
for
> chapters I-XX at http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/ada/index.htm (plus
> XXI-XII in THE NABOKOVIAN). This would avoid duplication of effort and
insure
> that research is focussed on the still unknown rather than rehashing the
known.
> In addition, NABOKV-L welcomes all plausible discussion & explication on
the
> remainder of the novel. New discoveries will of course be acknowledged by
Brian
> in his AdaOnline project.
>
>
>
----- End forwarded message -----
I hope that a comparison between what other scholars have written on Ada
will also be a way to avoid "rehashing the old".
For example you and Boyd in two different chapters: BBoyd in "Resistance and
Solution" and you in "Nabokov as a Maze Maker".
Boyd: " Though Ada´s "marybud" is another name for the marigold,
"mollyblob" and "maybubble" are inventions (...) Why does Nabokov invent
"mollyblob" and "maybubble" here? The answer is not easy, but it is
precise: the suggestion of popping in "maybubble" combines with "mollyblob"
to point unmistakably to Molly Bloom´s famous musing on the blob of a
ruptured hymen" ...Nabokov´s Ada, The Place of Consciousness", 2nd edition by
Cybereditions,
page 53.
Don B.Johnson: " It is a curious and significant fact that at leasst two of
VV´s wives have the letter sequence "BL" in their names (...) All of these
characters are related to Count Starov and it is their incestuous
consanguinity that is denoted by the alphabetic emblem "BL" in their names.
The sound sequence is, moreover, not randomnly chosen. As we have noted
previously in connection with "Ada", Nabokov denies any deep meaning in his
use of the incest theme, saying merely that he likes "the bl" soun in
siblings, bloom, blue, bliss, sable (SO 122-123). "BL" in Nabokov´s private
emblem for the incest theme (...) "Worlds in Regression: Some novels of Vladimir
Nabokov", Ardis publishers, 1985, page 139.
Don´t these intertextual emblematic blossomings get enriched by their sheer
approximation?
A question: Nabokov´s naming of the novel " Ada" was preceded by a project
involving christening it with the name " Juan". I vaguely remember reading
that before settling on the name "Lolita", VN had thought about chosing "
Juanita ". Can anyone tell me where the "Juanita" information is mentioned
by Nabokov? It struck me as a very curious insistence depicting Spanish
names and now, Juan/Juanita in particular.
-------------------------------------
EDNOTE. Yes, the two excerpts make a neat juxtaposition. I confess that until
your juxtaposition I had never linked the Mollyblob bit with the "BL".
Certainly worth thinking about. As is the BL of Lyublyu.
Boyd I, p. 169 reports that "Juanita Dark" (cf Joan of Arc) was one of the
names VN considered for Lolita
----- Original Message -----
From: "Donald B. Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Sent: Friday, February 18, 2005 2:32 PM
Subject: Fwd: Ada reading?
> I dare say that I have missed the boat here, but is there any chance of
> a group reading of _Ada_? I hope that it's not deemed redundant by the
> appearance of BB's wonderful online annotations?
>
> Brian Howell
> 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 -----
> -------------------------------------------------------------
> EDRESPONSE. Brian Boyd's continuing annotations to ADA set an awesome
standard.
> This is not to say that the combined wisdom of NABOKV-L subscribers cannot
find
> new and valuable things to explicate. Rather than a "structured" group
reading
> that would inevitably duplicate what Brian already knows, I suggest that
> contributors focus on the materials in the existing on-line annotations
for
> chapters I-XX at http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/ada/index.htm (plus
> XXI-XII in THE NABOKOVIAN). This would avoid duplication of effort and
insure
> that research is focussed on the still unknown rather than rehashing the
known.
> In addition, NABOKV-L welcomes all plausible discussion & explication on
the
> remainder of the novel. New discoveries will of course be acknowledged by
Brian
> in his AdaOnline project.
>
>
>
----- End forwarded message -----