Subject
Re: tt-1 - circular construction; transparency in TT (fwd)
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The other way to look at it is to ask: Who are the transparent things of
the novel? Are they material objects as illustrated by history of
pencils; living persons as exemplified by Hugh's life? Or they are
ghosts of mortal men and women who see the past (Hugh's, pencils). The
later interpretation was in fact hinted on by Boyd in paragraph IV of
chapter 25 of "VN, The American Years".
I am not convinced by Mark Bennett when he says that "What's the matter,
don't pull me" was uttered by Hugh's ghost after newly born (newly
dead?) was pulled by R's ghost. The ghosts can see the past but
individual ghosts do not scale time backwards (in novel's time that is).
Thanks for that or we would have to face complications of 'Austin
Powers' or 'Planet of Apes' proportions. Real pulling was done by R's
co-ghosts because they would rather see many person's past shine then
sink into not the most interesting one.
Nor did I agree initially with Boyd's assertion as it contradicted to
the presented theory of 'transparent things, through which the past
shines'.
Now, Hugh presented ghosts with a problem. One cannot skim such opaque
person easily. One needs to sink really deep, for about 70 pages, to see
through. In the process Hugh reached ultimate transparency, became a
ghost. Which brings my next question: What if real transparency is
fulfilled for a living person only when he/she is on the verge of
crossing the threshold and is ready to become one of the narrative's
'we'?
So here it goes: some of the living persons may be semi-transparent from
the viewpoint of transparent ghosts whose way of being is transparency,
but real transparency is reached on the threshold of 'another' state of
being, by those who cross it.
---------- Forwarded Message ----------
Date: Friday, July 09, 2004 8:09 AM -0700
From: Mark Bennett <mab@straussandasher.com>
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Subject: tt-1
I'm probably miles off base here, but isn't the construction of TT
circular? At the conclusion of the book, Hugh dies and "pass[es] from
one
state of being to another" and the concluding sentence, "Easy, you know,
does it, son" is actually the first sentence, or one of the first
sentences, of the book. Mr. R greets Hugh as he makes the transition,
but
Hugh has yet to make the "mysterious mental maneuver" that is necessary
to
adjust to this new "state of being"; hence, Hugh does not hear Mr. R's
greeting and encouragement. The, "What's the matter, don't pull me" in
the
third paragraph is actually Hugh's complaint to Mr. R; the next sentence
is
Mr. R's response to the other shades who entreat him to stop bothering
Hugh. The final two paragraphs are, among other things, a mini-seminar
on
certain aspects of VN's theory of art and metaphysics, as interpreted by
his spokesman, the now-spectral Mr. R: Person, or person, is a "material
object", a "natural one[]" "through which the past shines." When "we"
[the
author and the reader] concentrate on "person" we are "soon reveling
with
childish abandon in [his] story." The "childish" is important: it links
with the iteration of "novice" in these two paragraphs. When Mr. R/VN
tells
us that "Novices must learn to skim over matter if they want matter to
stay
at the exact level of the moment[,]" he is certainly not recommending
that
"we" do so. He is telling us that the "novice" must learn, or be
"taught"
to ignore the mystery that surrounds him, in order to "remain in the
now,
with the now, on the now[]." If the novice maintains his "childish"
wonder
at the mystery he will pierce the "thin veneer of immediate reality
[that]
is spread over natural and artificial matter", and move beyond the
"now."
Unfortunately, because of our present limitations, this movement largely
consists of sinking into the past of the object, or "person," upon
which,
or upon whom, we are concentrating. The technique is demonstrated by
Fyodor
in "The Gift", when he mentally moves about a crowded room and enters
into
the being of various "persons" present. It is also demonstrated by
Mr.R/VN
in the remaining pages of TT. Although it would take a "better brain" to
turn Time's Arrow around and perceive the future of "transparent
things,"
from time to time even we mortals can do it, or something like it; for
instance, when we foresee our future recollections.
Mark Bennett
---------- End Forwarded Message ----------
D. Barton Johnson
NABOKV-L
---------- End Forwarded Message ----------
D. Barton Johnson
NABOKV-L
The other way to look at it is to ask: Who are the transparent things of
the novel? Are they material objects as illustrated by history of
pencils; living persons as exemplified by Hugh's life? Or they are
ghosts of mortal men and women who see the past (Hugh's, pencils). The
later interpretation was in fact hinted on by Boyd in paragraph IV of
chapter 25 of "VN, The American Years".
I am not convinced by Mark Bennett when he says that "What's the matter,
don't pull me" was uttered by Hugh's ghost after newly born (newly
dead?) was pulled by R's ghost. The ghosts can see the past but
individual ghosts do not scale time backwards (in novel's time that is).
Thanks for that or we would have to face complications of 'Austin
Powers' or 'Planet of Apes' proportions. Real pulling was done by R's
co-ghosts because they would rather see many person's past shine then
sink into not the most interesting one.
Nor did I agree initially with Boyd's assertion as it contradicted to
the presented theory of 'transparent things, through which the past
shines'.
Now, Hugh presented ghosts with a problem. One cannot skim such opaque
person easily. One needs to sink really deep, for about 70 pages, to see
through. In the process Hugh reached ultimate transparency, became a
ghost. Which brings my next question: What if real transparency is
fulfilled for a living person only when he/she is on the verge of
crossing the threshold and is ready to become one of the narrative's
'we'?
So here it goes: some of the living persons may be semi-transparent from
the viewpoint of transparent ghosts whose way of being is transparency,
but real transparency is reached on the threshold of 'another' state of
being, by those who cross it.
---------- Forwarded Message ----------
Date: Friday, July 09, 2004 8:09 AM -0700
From: Mark Bennett <mab@straussandasher.com>
To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
Subject: tt-1
I'm probably miles off base here, but isn't the construction of TT
circular? At the conclusion of the book, Hugh dies and "pass[es] from
one
state of being to another" and the concluding sentence, "Easy, you know,
does it, son" is actually the first sentence, or one of the first
sentences, of the book. Mr. R greets Hugh as he makes the transition,
but
Hugh has yet to make the "mysterious mental maneuver" that is necessary
to
adjust to this new "state of being"; hence, Hugh does not hear Mr. R's
greeting and encouragement. The, "What's the matter, don't pull me" in
the
third paragraph is actually Hugh's complaint to Mr. R; the next sentence
is
Mr. R's response to the other shades who entreat him to stop bothering
Hugh. The final two paragraphs are, among other things, a mini-seminar
on
certain aspects of VN's theory of art and metaphysics, as interpreted by
his spokesman, the now-spectral Mr. R: Person, or person, is a "material
object", a "natural one[]" "through which the past shines." When "we"
[the
author and the reader] concentrate on "person" we are "soon reveling
with
childish abandon in [his] story." The "childish" is important: it links
with the iteration of "novice" in these two paragraphs. When Mr. R/VN
tells
us that "Novices must learn to skim over matter if they want matter to
stay
at the exact level of the moment[,]" he is certainly not recommending
that
"we" do so. He is telling us that the "novice" must learn, or be
"taught"
to ignore the mystery that surrounds him, in order to "remain in the
now,
with the now, on the now[]." If the novice maintains his "childish"
wonder
at the mystery he will pierce the "thin veneer of immediate reality
[that]
is spread over natural and artificial matter", and move beyond the
"now."
Unfortunately, because of our present limitations, this movement largely
consists of sinking into the past of the object, or "person," upon
which,
or upon whom, we are concentrating. The technique is demonstrated by
Fyodor
in "The Gift", when he mentally moves about a crowded room and enters
into
the being of various "persons" present. It is also demonstrated by
Mr.R/VN
in the remaining pages of TT. Although it would take a "better brain" to
turn Time's Arrow around and perceive the future of "transparent
things,"
from time to time even we mortals can do it, or something like it; for
instance, when we foresee our future recollections.
Mark Bennett
---------- End Forwarded Message ----------
D. Barton Johnson
NABOKV-L
---------- End Forwarded Message ----------
D. Barton Johnson
NABOKV-L