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Re: Thinking of LOLITA in Ashland, Ore (fwd)
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From: Mark Dintenfass <mldin@execpc.com>
I think we can trust Nabokov's ear. To MY ear "losing my time" is far more
poigant than "wasting time," since to waste time is to make bad use of it
while to lose time is to be unable to make any use of it at all. In
addition, the thought of losing time brings a Proustian echo, which is, of
course, appropriate since there is at least one vital reference to Proust
in the book (the paper HH writes on the "Proustian theme" in a Keats
letter).
Mark Dintenfass
>***It is striking, indeed, that VN is using here the absolute translation
>of the Russian phrase "teriat' vremia," as opposed to the properly English
>"wasting time." A rather common slip among Russian English-speakers. He
>obviously had to know the difference by then, unless we can make a case
>that his use of the phrase was stubbornly consistent (as the example from
>LATH may signify). This explanation does not sit well with me,
>however, because there were, after all, proofreaders and editors, so
>his reasons must have been of a more intentionally artistic nature. GD***
>
>
>From: Jane Morrison <JaneMorrison@compuserve.com>
>
>
>Perhaps Nabokov did not perceive "losing my time" as being non-English. One
>certainly hears it a lot among French speakers who are fluent in English.
>His Nabokovish narrator uses the same phrase in "Look at the Harlequins!",
>speaking of Iris's Russian lessons: "On my pointing out to Iris that she
>was losing her time at this hit-and-miss task, she cast around for some
>other alchemic method which might enable her to read everything I wrote."
>
>Paul Montgomery
>Lausanne, Switzerland
I think we can trust Nabokov's ear. To MY ear "losing my time" is far more
poigant than "wasting time," since to waste time is to make bad use of it
while to lose time is to be unable to make any use of it at all. In
addition, the thought of losing time brings a Proustian echo, which is, of
course, appropriate since there is at least one vital reference to Proust
in the book (the paper HH writes on the "Proustian theme" in a Keats
letter).
Mark Dintenfass
>***It is striking, indeed, that VN is using here the absolute translation
>of the Russian phrase "teriat' vremia," as opposed to the properly English
>"wasting time." A rather common slip among Russian English-speakers. He
>obviously had to know the difference by then, unless we can make a case
>that his use of the phrase was stubbornly consistent (as the example from
>LATH may signify). This explanation does not sit well with me,
>however, because there were, after all, proofreaders and editors, so
>his reasons must have been of a more intentionally artistic nature. GD***
>
>
>From: Jane Morrison <JaneMorrison@compuserve.com>
>
>
>Perhaps Nabokov did not perceive "losing my time" as being non-English. One
>certainly hears it a lot among French speakers who are fluent in English.
>His Nabokovish narrator uses the same phrase in "Look at the Harlequins!",
>speaking of Iris's Russian lessons: "On my pointing out to Iris that she
>was losing her time at this hit-and-miss task, she cast around for some
>other alchemic method which might enable her to read everything I wrote."
>
>Paul Montgomery
>Lausanne, Switzerland