Subject
Ducornet (fwd)
Date
Body
From: Earl Sampson <esampson@cu.campus.mci.net>
These closing paragraphs of a recent newspaper essay on Rikki Ducornet
should find resonance, it seems to me, with Nabokovians:
"Ducornet's writing makes demands of its readers: allusive, intricate
and baroque, it can seem somewhat mannered at times. Most often, though,
her work rewards a reader's close attention with its extraordinary
lyricism and, at times, shocking insights into the human condition.
"Her goal, Ducornet notes, is to create a body of work that 'is well
written and that will brush against the truth.'
"' I write a book I want to read,' says the author. '. . . I think of
an ideal reader, which would sort of be me at my smartest.'"
That last virtually paraphrases something VN said somewhere. Who
remembers where, and what his exact words were?
The referenced essay is the extent of my acquaintance with Ducornet,
but if anyone cares to look into her to see if the suggestion of some
similarities with VN is illusory or not (but knowing the erudition of
NABOKV-L subscribers, I would guess that there are people out there who
can already answer that question), here is a list of her writings, from
a sidebar to the article:
Short story collections: _The Word "Desire"_ (1997); _The Complete
Butcher's Tales_ (1994)
Novels: _The Jade Cabinet_ (1993); _Phosphor in Dreamland_ (1995); _The
Fountains of Neptune_ (1989); _Entering Fire_ (1986); _The Stain_ (1984)
Poetry collections: _The Cult of Seizure_ (1989); _The Illustrated
Universe_ (1979); _Knife Notebook_ (1977); _Weird Sisters_ (1976); _Wild
Geraniums_ (1975); _From the Star Chamber_ (1974)
These closing paragraphs of a recent newspaper essay on Rikki Ducornet
should find resonance, it seems to me, with Nabokovians:
"Ducornet's writing makes demands of its readers: allusive, intricate
and baroque, it can seem somewhat mannered at times. Most often, though,
her work rewards a reader's close attention with its extraordinary
lyricism and, at times, shocking insights into the human condition.
"Her goal, Ducornet notes, is to create a body of work that 'is well
written and that will brush against the truth.'
"' I write a book I want to read,' says the author. '. . . I think of
an ideal reader, which would sort of be me at my smartest.'"
That last virtually paraphrases something VN said somewhere. Who
remembers where, and what his exact words were?
The referenced essay is the extent of my acquaintance with Ducornet,
but if anyone cares to look into her to see if the suggestion of some
similarities with VN is illusory or not (but knowing the erudition of
NABOKV-L subscribers, I would guess that there are people out there who
can already answer that question), here is a list of her writings, from
a sidebar to the article:
Short story collections: _The Word "Desire"_ (1997); _The Complete
Butcher's Tales_ (1994)
Novels: _The Jade Cabinet_ (1993); _Phosphor in Dreamland_ (1995); _The
Fountains of Neptune_ (1989); _Entering Fire_ (1986); _The Stain_ (1984)
Poetry collections: _The Cult of Seizure_ (1989); _The Illustrated
Universe_ (1979); _Knife Notebook_ (1977); _Weird Sisters_ (1976); _Wild
Geraniums_ (1975); _From the Star Chamber_ (1974)