Subject
Nabokov, Henry Miller, & Rattner
Date
Body
I enjoyed both some of the unexpected "bedfellows" of the sixties suggested
in Donald Barton Johnson's abstract on "Nabokov and the Sixties" and some
of the additional shimmers and coincidences it brought to mind. As fellow
inhabitants of the Sixties Johnson mentions, inter alia, "'the Beats', those
grandchildren of Henry Miller," (including Kerouac).
I was reminded that the exile, Henry Miller, like VN had to flee Europe at
the onset of WWII. And that Miller, like Nabokov (and Humbert; and
Kerouac) "explored" the U.S. (in a second hand car bought for the occasion
in the instances of both Miller and V.N.) In both instances this leads
to a book about "what they found there". (_Air Conditioned Nightmare_ by
Miller, for those to old to have grown up in those days). Both indeed
filled with what I'm tempted to call 'objets trouves'.
Neither, of course, set out on this journey alone (although each parted
with his travelling companion along the way, in the cases of Humbert and
Henry. Miller's travelling companion was (in case you, unlike me, don't
have your copy handy) Abe Rattner, the artist -- who later taught at a
University, too.
For one of those shimmers, Brian Boyd will have reminded you that Miller's
Paris publisher was Jack Kahane, of the Olympia Press, father of Maurice
Girondias, first publisher of _Lolita_. (Boyd v. 2 pp 266 & 300, inter al.)
Yes and you'll already be wanting to remind me that Miller's companion
Rattner shows up on p 230 of _Ada_, where "Van lay reading Rattner on
Terra...." Of course, if you insist on word games, you'll be trying an
anagram of
A R a t t n e r
1 8 9 3 5 2 6 7
Sure, there's a letter missing, but I honestly don't know Abe's middle
initial -- and besides, you can pronounce that first 't' as the letter
name. (A propos of nothing, Abe married Esther, who had previously been
my uncle's wife.) Sorry to ramble. This squib is, for the moment,
dedicated to all of you who have already set your Nabokov-L to "no-mail"!
Ki semenat ispinaza, non andet iskultsu!
J. A. Rea jarea@ukcc.uky.edu
in Donald Barton Johnson's abstract on "Nabokov and the Sixties" and some
of the additional shimmers and coincidences it brought to mind. As fellow
inhabitants of the Sixties Johnson mentions, inter alia, "'the Beats', those
grandchildren of Henry Miller," (including Kerouac).
I was reminded that the exile, Henry Miller, like VN had to flee Europe at
the onset of WWII. And that Miller, like Nabokov (and Humbert; and
Kerouac) "explored" the U.S. (in a second hand car bought for the occasion
in the instances of both Miller and V.N.) In both instances this leads
to a book about "what they found there". (_Air Conditioned Nightmare_ by
Miller, for those to old to have grown up in those days). Both indeed
filled with what I'm tempted to call 'objets trouves'.
Neither, of course, set out on this journey alone (although each parted
with his travelling companion along the way, in the cases of Humbert and
Henry. Miller's travelling companion was (in case you, unlike me, don't
have your copy handy) Abe Rattner, the artist -- who later taught at a
University, too.
For one of those shimmers, Brian Boyd will have reminded you that Miller's
Paris publisher was Jack Kahane, of the Olympia Press, father of Maurice
Girondias, first publisher of _Lolita_. (Boyd v. 2 pp 266 & 300, inter al.)
Yes and you'll already be wanting to remind me that Miller's companion
Rattner shows up on p 230 of _Ada_, where "Van lay reading Rattner on
Terra...." Of course, if you insist on word games, you'll be trying an
anagram of
A R a t t n e r
1 8 9 3 5 2 6 7
Sure, there's a letter missing, but I honestly don't know Abe's middle
initial -- and besides, you can pronounce that first 't' as the letter
name. (A propos of nothing, Abe married Esther, who had previously been
my uncle's wife.) Sorry to ramble. This squib is, for the moment,
dedicated to all of you who have already set your Nabokov-L to "no-mail"!
Ki semenat ispinaza, non andet iskultsu!
J. A. Rea jarea@ukcc.uky.edu