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Fw: Nabokov and Borges redux
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EDNOTE. Anent Beth Sweeney's last paragraph--I think she is right in
pointing to the probable overlap in childhood reading of VN & Borges.
Jonathan Sisson's essay in the _Garland Companion to VN_ gives a good
sketch of Nabokov's early English lit. context. A look at Borges' early
English reading would be interesting as a point of comparison.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Susan Elizabeth Sweeney" <ssweeney@holycross.edu>
>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (10
lines) ------------------
> Hi everyone,
>
> I am enjoying this discussion. I'd forgotten about the architectural
house metaphor, which does indeed suggest a waning of enthusiasm--although
perhaps only because of Borges's tendency to write synopses of unwritten
books instead of the books themselves, as A. Bouazza points out, or because
of his relatively meager output (short "fables" and essays rather than
novels). However, I still think that those few "ambiguous" comments in SO
reflect VN's usual testiness at being compared to or seen as indebted to
another writer.
>
> By the way, I've often wondered whether some of Borges's and Nabokov's
common themes actually reflect a common influence--the fantastic tales of
Poe, Doyle, Stevenson, and others that each devoured in English as
precocious, multilingual, Anglophile children.
>
> Susan Elizabeth Sweeney
> Associate Professor of English
> Holy Cross College
>
>
pointing to the probable overlap in childhood reading of VN & Borges.
Jonathan Sisson's essay in the _Garland Companion to VN_ gives a good
sketch of Nabokov's early English lit. context. A look at Borges' early
English reading would be interesting as a point of comparison.
----- Original Message -----
From: "Susan Elizabeth Sweeney" <ssweeney@holycross.edu>
>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (10
lines) ------------------
> Hi everyone,
>
> I am enjoying this discussion. I'd forgotten about the architectural
house metaphor, which does indeed suggest a waning of enthusiasm--although
perhaps only because of Borges's tendency to write synopses of unwritten
books instead of the books themselves, as A. Bouazza points out, or because
of his relatively meager output (short "fables" and essays rather than
novels). However, I still think that those few "ambiguous" comments in SO
reflect VN's usual testiness at being compared to or seen as indebted to
another writer.
>
> By the way, I've often wondered whether some of Borges's and Nabokov's
common themes actually reflect a common influence--the fantastic tales of
Poe, Doyle, Stevenson, and others that each devoured in English as
precocious, multilingual, Anglophile children.
>
> Susan Elizabeth Sweeney
> Associate Professor of English
> Holy Cross College
>
>