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Re: FWD: TT-9 - echo in TT-19 (fwd)
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Reading Misha's paralleling two chapters, it occurred to
me:
Armande in Ch. 19 looks for a book she misplaced, perhaps repeating the
American children's search for the comics they left behind. On the train, HP
and Armande exchanged a glance of reproach on the rowdy kids while HP is
deeply moved by his wife's "pathetic" absentmindedness.
"Rimiform" seems to me to suggest Armande's dimples rather than her mole.
It reminds me of the way Cordula's dimples are described (sorry for a
digression): "Her mouth was doll-pretty when consciously closed in a
mannered pout so as to bring out what portraitists call the two 'sickle
folds' which, at their best, are oblong dimples and, at their worst, the
creases down the well-chilled cheeks of felt-booted apple-cart girls (ADA
165). Their dimples are not so different, but for HP, they are the charming
twin dimples of the
crescentic type, on the other hand, for Van who is jealous of Cordula, they
are just the folds or furrows on the
cheeks.
Akiko
----- Original Message -----
From: "D. Barton Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Sent: Saturday, August 07, 2004 1:24 AM
Subject: Re: FWD: TT-9 - echoe in TT-19
> ------------------ I was also pondering the reappearing clashing particle,
> as well as various other articles from Chapter 9 that seem to resurface in
> 19. There is the Belgian artist (Armande's father, an architect) reshaped
> as the clamorous Belgian sculptor upstairs, as well as, perhaps, Paul Plam
> (also Belgian ?) and the obese Pauline. Then we have R.'s latest books --
> Figures in a Golden Window in 9, Tralatitions in 19; the former quickly
> reviewed by HP for Armande, the latter being proofread by HP. A cute
> coincidence, indeed. Besides (this is a stretch), "rimiform" probably
> suggests the "grain de beaute'" from the last lines of 9, and "all the
gold
> of a kew tree" and "a dappled nebris" are reminiscent of the "lovely wake
> of the sun through semitransparent black fabric". In any case, it is
> significant that R's description of Julia in the "bawdy passage" is
> evocative of HP's description of Armande in the other bawdy passage, the
> one from HP's diary - this is a theme that culminates with HP dreaming of
> Julia as he "rescues" Armande.
>
> Curiously, Armande and HP return to reading their respective books on
> their last evening together; this is almost a mirror reflection of the
> "banal mechanism" of their acquaintance on the train in Ch. 9. I wonder if
> the yawning that, according to Armande, "sidetracks sleep" is a vague echo
> of the train theme -- it's as if HP and Armande in Ch.19 are on a carriage
> that is moving inexorably toward the fateful "sleep" of Ch.20.
>
> This re-evocation and reshaping of various items across chapters is very
> Nabokovian, and reminiscent of the "circular" chapters in Pnin.
>
> Misha
>
>
>
> On Thu, 5 Aug 2004, D. Barton Johnson wrote:
>
> > ------------------ A schoolboy's insane desire and a romantic tumult
never
> > felt previously. Armande Chamar. LA PARTICULE AURAIT JURE' AVEC LA
> > DERNI`ERE SYLLABE DO MON PRE'NOM
> >
> > The virtually throw-away nature of the italicized insertion -- Le
> > particule aurait jure' avec la derni`ere syllabe de mon pre'nom. --
makes
> > me a bit suspicious, as does the combination of de with jurer. Lets
> > remember the otherworldliness wafting with italics here -- (When WE
> > concentrate on a material object; on the printed page the words "likely"
> > and "actually" should be italicized too, at least SLIGHTLY, to indicate
> > a SLIGHT breath of wind inclining those characters) -- more than French
> > may be at stake here. (A very interesting article dealing in part w.
> > italics in PF by James Ramey has just appeared in Comparative
Literature
> > Studies; I hope the full citation can be posted soon). The notion of a
> > noble particule appears later in the text with direct reference to VN:
> > on page 75 (ch.19), in the midst of a bawdy passage -- "He queried the
> > middle word in the name of an incidental character "Adam von Librikov"
> > because the German particle seemed to clash with the rest; or was the
> > entire combination a sly scramble?" It seems to me possible that
> > "jurer" here is functioning as a pun, i.e. "the particle would have
> > clashed/sworn/cursed with the last syllable of my first name". A
> > riddling statement from the author? This works better, of course, with
> > the English pronunciation of the name than with the French. A juron
> > that goes back to its original meaning by invoking the name of God?
> > Vladi-merde! that would be indeed taking the Lord's name in vain -- as
> > well as reading with a schoolboy's in(s)ane interpretive desire.
> > Eric
> >
> >
> > ---------- End Forwarded Message ----------
> >
> >
> >
> > D. Barton Johnson
> > NABOKV-L
> >
>
>
> ---------- End Forwarded Message ----------
>
>
>
> D. Barton Johnson
> NABOKV-L
>
---------- End Forwarded Message ----------
D. Barton Johnson
NABOKV-L
Reading Misha's paralleling two chapters, it occurred to
me:
Armande in Ch. 19 looks for a book she misplaced, perhaps repeating the
American children's search for the comics they left behind. On the train, HP
and Armande exchanged a glance of reproach on the rowdy kids while HP is
deeply moved by his wife's "pathetic" absentmindedness.
"Rimiform" seems to me to suggest Armande's dimples rather than her mole.
It reminds me of the way Cordula's dimples are described (sorry for a
digression): "Her mouth was doll-pretty when consciously closed in a
mannered pout so as to bring out what portraitists call the two 'sickle
folds' which, at their best, are oblong dimples and, at their worst, the
creases down the well-chilled cheeks of felt-booted apple-cart girls (ADA
165). Their dimples are not so different, but for HP, they are the charming
twin dimples of the
crescentic type, on the other hand, for Van who is jealous of Cordula, they
are just the folds or furrows on the
cheeks.
Akiko
----- Original Message -----
From: "D. Barton Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Sent: Saturday, August 07, 2004 1:24 AM
Subject: Re: FWD: TT-9 - echoe in TT-19
> ------------------ I was also pondering the reappearing clashing particle,
> as well as various other articles from Chapter 9 that seem to resurface in
> 19. There is the Belgian artist (Armande's father, an architect) reshaped
> as the clamorous Belgian sculptor upstairs, as well as, perhaps, Paul Plam
> (also Belgian ?) and the obese Pauline. Then we have R.'s latest books --
> Figures in a Golden Window in 9, Tralatitions in 19; the former quickly
> reviewed by HP for Armande, the latter being proofread by HP. A cute
> coincidence, indeed. Besides (this is a stretch), "rimiform" probably
> suggests the "grain de beaute'" from the last lines of 9, and "all the
gold
> of a kew tree" and "a dappled nebris" are reminiscent of the "lovely wake
> of the sun through semitransparent black fabric". In any case, it is
> significant that R's description of Julia in the "bawdy passage" is
> evocative of HP's description of Armande in the other bawdy passage, the
> one from HP's diary - this is a theme that culminates with HP dreaming of
> Julia as he "rescues" Armande.
>
> Curiously, Armande and HP return to reading their respective books on
> their last evening together; this is almost a mirror reflection of the
> "banal mechanism" of their acquaintance on the train in Ch. 9. I wonder if
> the yawning that, according to Armande, "sidetracks sleep" is a vague echo
> of the train theme -- it's as if HP and Armande in Ch.19 are on a carriage
> that is moving inexorably toward the fateful "sleep" of Ch.20.
>
> This re-evocation and reshaping of various items across chapters is very
> Nabokovian, and reminiscent of the "circular" chapters in Pnin.
>
> Misha
>
>
>
> On Thu, 5 Aug 2004, D. Barton Johnson wrote:
>
> > ------------------ A schoolboy's insane desire and a romantic tumult
never
> > felt previously. Armande Chamar. LA PARTICULE AURAIT JURE' AVEC LA
> > DERNI`ERE SYLLABE DO MON PRE'NOM
> >
> > The virtually throw-away nature of the italicized insertion -- Le
> > particule aurait jure' avec la derni`ere syllabe de mon pre'nom. --
makes
> > me a bit suspicious, as does the combination of de with jurer. Lets
> > remember the otherworldliness wafting with italics here -- (When WE
> > concentrate on a material object; on the printed page the words "likely"
> > and "actually" should be italicized too, at least SLIGHTLY, to indicate
> > a SLIGHT breath of wind inclining those characters) -- more than French
> > may be at stake here. (A very interesting article dealing in part w.
> > italics in PF by James Ramey has just appeared in Comparative
Literature
> > Studies; I hope the full citation can be posted soon). The notion of a
> > noble particule appears later in the text with direct reference to VN:
> > on page 75 (ch.19), in the midst of a bawdy passage -- "He queried the
> > middle word in the name of an incidental character "Adam von Librikov"
> > because the German particle seemed to clash with the rest; or was the
> > entire combination a sly scramble?" It seems to me possible that
> > "jurer" here is functioning as a pun, i.e. "the particle would have
> > clashed/sworn/cursed with the last syllable of my first name". A
> > riddling statement from the author? This works better, of course, with
> > the English pronunciation of the name than with the French. A juron
> > that goes back to its original meaning by invoking the name of God?
> > Vladi-merde! that would be indeed taking the Lord's name in vain -- as
> > well as reading with a schoolboy's in(s)ane interpretive desire.
> > Eric
> >
> >
> > ---------- End Forwarded Message ----------
> >
> >
> >
> > D. Barton Johnson
> > NABOKV-L
> >
>
>
> ---------- End Forwarded Message ----------
>
>
>
> D. Barton Johnson
> NABOKV-L
>
---------- End Forwarded Message ----------
D. Barton Johnson
NABOKV-L