Subject
Re: Dmitri Nabokov Sues an American Publisher (fwd)
Date
Body
EDITOR's NOTE. Below, Anatoly Vorobey comments on a posting by George
Shimanovich. Another subscriber had previously remarked that Mr.
Shimanovich was "the nearest thing to a flame he had seen on NABOKV-L." I
confess that, as editor, I ran the earlier posting with some reluctance.
In general, I try to keep the tone of exchanges within the limits of
civility. With the posting below, I would like to close the matter.
------------------------------------
From: Anatoly Vorobey <mellon@pobox.com>
> From: George Shimanovich <gshiman@worldnet.att.net> (Nov. 6th)
>
> I don't see how the forum dedicated to Nabokov can serve as a clipboard
> for insinuations (under pretext like "modern literary process") toward
> the only surviving member of VN's immediate family who happened to be
> (surprise!) a honest person.
If you mean that his decision to sue the American publisher should
serve as evidence of his honesty, I would ask you to elaborate. Not that
I think it was a dishonest deed either; simply a wrong one. Definitely not
something I would be proud of having done, if I were in his place.
I resent any attempts to portray VN, DN or any other N as supreme ethical
or aesthetical authority whose judgements can't be questioned. I know
very little about Dmitri Nabokov. I'm not personally acquainted with him.
I don't have any grudges or personal axes to grind.
But I certainly am not going to blindly trust literary decisions of a man
who allows himself, on a public forum, such niceties of style
as "Meanwhile, Madame Pera, who, alas, is truly pear-shaped..."
(from DN's posting of Jan 11 on this forum) - however unworthy of any
attention "Lo's Diary" is. Such pronouncements speak *volumes* about
their author - regardless of his name, fame, talent or family ties
with anyone else.
Sincerely,
Anatoly.
--
Anatoly Vorobey,
mellon@pobox.com http://pobox.com/~mellon/
"Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly" - G.K.Chesterton
Shimanovich. Another subscriber had previously remarked that Mr.
Shimanovich was "the nearest thing to a flame he had seen on NABOKV-L." I
confess that, as editor, I ran the earlier posting with some reluctance.
In general, I try to keep the tone of exchanges within the limits of
civility. With the posting below, I would like to close the matter.
------------------------------------
From: Anatoly Vorobey <mellon@pobox.com>
> From: George Shimanovich <gshiman@worldnet.att.net> (Nov. 6th)
>
> I don't see how the forum dedicated to Nabokov can serve as a clipboard
> for insinuations (under pretext like "modern literary process") toward
> the only surviving member of VN's immediate family who happened to be
> (surprise!) a honest person.
If you mean that his decision to sue the American publisher should
serve as evidence of his honesty, I would ask you to elaborate. Not that
I think it was a dishonest deed either; simply a wrong one. Definitely not
something I would be proud of having done, if I were in his place.
I resent any attempts to portray VN, DN or any other N as supreme ethical
or aesthetical authority whose judgements can't be questioned. I know
very little about Dmitri Nabokov. I'm not personally acquainted with him.
I don't have any grudges or personal axes to grind.
But I certainly am not going to blindly trust literary decisions of a man
who allows himself, on a public forum, such niceties of style
as "Meanwhile, Madame Pera, who, alas, is truly pear-shaped..."
(from DN's posting of Jan 11 on this forum) - however unworthy of any
attention "Lo's Diary" is. Such pronouncements speak *volumes* about
their author - regardless of his name, fame, talent or family ties
with anyone else.
Sincerely,
Anatoly.
--
Anatoly Vorobey,
mellon@pobox.com http://pobox.com/~mellon/
"Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly" - G.K.Chesterton