Subject
Advice on reading _Pale Fire_
From
Date
Body
----- Original Message -----
From: "Kenny, Glenn" <gkenny@hfmus.com>
To: NABOKV-L
Sent: Monday, May 12, 2003 8:00 PM
Subject: RE: Pale Fire
>
> My two cents:
> I believe Boyd would agree that for a first-time reader to consult his
book
> in the hopes that it would assist him or her in getting through the novel
> would only result in disaster. Bearing in mind VN's dictum that a book can
> never be read, only reread, I would suggest to Mr. Hart that he should
try
> to ignore his frustration when it occurs and just soldier on. Doesn't
sound
> like terribly pleasurable, or even practical advice, I know. Let me try to
> be a little more useful. When I first tackled "Pale Fire" in my early
> twenties, I purposely shunted aside certain dimensions of the novel that I
> was intuiting just to get the work of reading done. In other words, I read
> Shade's poem as Shade's poem, and Kinbote's commentary as the work of a
> madman who had run off with those index cards that constituted the poem, a
> work which wove a tale of its own. I took a strictly linear approach,
almost
> willfully making the novel work for me as a traditional novel might, just
to
> get to the point where I had the whole of the text. As all lovers of "Pale
> Fire" understand, this point is merely the beginning of their relationship
> with the work.
>
> The relationship between "Pale Fire" and its most ardent readers is like
the
> relationship that a musician has with a much-beloved score. The more we
> "play" it, as it were-the more we explore it from multiple angles, take
> multiple approaches to its reading, and so on-the greater an achievement
it
> becomes, the more resonance its complexities take on. And Boyd is the
Dinu
> Lupati of "Pale Fire." When we are first-time players of it, most of us
can
> only make "Chopsticks" out of it. But with patience and time, we can do so
> much more.
>
> GK
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: D. Barton Johnson
> To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> Sent: 5/12/03 10:27 PM
> Subject: Fw: Pale Fire
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "ssamuelhart" <ssamuelhart@cox.net>
> >
> > ----------------- Message requiring your approval (11
> lines) ------------------
> > Hi everyone,
> >
> > I am on my third attempt at reading 'Pale Fire'. I've tried a
> couple
> > times, reading about half way through, but each time getting
> frustrated
> with
> > the format and the complexity.
> >
> > I need suggestions. Should I get Boyd's book?
> >
> > Scott S. Hart
> >
> >
From: "Kenny, Glenn" <gkenny@hfmus.com>
To: NABOKV-L
Sent: Monday, May 12, 2003 8:00 PM
Subject: RE: Pale Fire
>
> My two cents:
> I believe Boyd would agree that for a first-time reader to consult his
book
> in the hopes that it would assist him or her in getting through the novel
> would only result in disaster. Bearing in mind VN's dictum that a book can
> never be read, only reread, I would suggest to Mr. Hart that he should
try
> to ignore his frustration when it occurs and just soldier on. Doesn't
sound
> like terribly pleasurable, or even practical advice, I know. Let me try to
> be a little more useful. When I first tackled "Pale Fire" in my early
> twenties, I purposely shunted aside certain dimensions of the novel that I
> was intuiting just to get the work of reading done. In other words, I read
> Shade's poem as Shade's poem, and Kinbote's commentary as the work of a
> madman who had run off with those index cards that constituted the poem, a
> work which wove a tale of its own. I took a strictly linear approach,
almost
> willfully making the novel work for me as a traditional novel might, just
to
> get to the point where I had the whole of the text. As all lovers of "Pale
> Fire" understand, this point is merely the beginning of their relationship
> with the work.
>
> The relationship between "Pale Fire" and its most ardent readers is like
the
> relationship that a musician has with a much-beloved score. The more we
> "play" it, as it were-the more we explore it from multiple angles, take
> multiple approaches to its reading, and so on-the greater an achievement
it
> becomes, the more resonance its complexities take on. And Boyd is the
Dinu
> Lupati of "Pale Fire." When we are first-time players of it, most of us
can
> only make "Chopsticks" out of it. But with patience and time, we can do so
> much more.
>
> GK
>
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: D. Barton Johnson
> To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> Sent: 5/12/03 10:27 PM
> Subject: Fw: Pale Fire
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "ssamuelhart" <ssamuelhart@cox.net>
> >
> > ----------------- Message requiring your approval (11
> lines) ------------------
> > Hi everyone,
> >
> > I am on my third attempt at reading 'Pale Fire'. I've tried a
> couple
> > times, reading about half way through, but each time getting
> frustrated
> with
> > the format and the complexity.
> >
> > I need suggestions. Should I get Boyd's book?
> >
> > Scott S. Hart
> >
> >