Subject
Re: VN's worst novel? (fwd)
Date
Body
EDITOR'S NOTE. David R. Slavitt <slavitt@mail.med.upenn.edu>,
originator of the note below, is himself a well-known novelist and
Latin translator whose fiction is not without Nabokovian undercurrents. His
account of a Nabokov interview appeared on NABOKV-L.
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I have always loved *Mary* which is brilliant because of its limitations
and its wonderful joke. It prefigures *Despair* in that way, and is
literary without being altogether airless.
My least favorite novel is ADA, which is in large passages silly,
self-indulgent, and . . . smug. To many tri-lingual puns for my taste.
Too much showing off. Of course, I don't like Finnegans Wake, either.
But then, I'm only in my early sixties. Maybe in twenty years . . .
---------------------------------------------------------
>EDITOR'S NOTE. Responders to Heather Lowe's query are requested to
>briefly explain their choice.
>
>At 02:30 PM 1/24/96 -0800, you wrote:
>
>I would be interested in hearing list members' opinions on what they consider
>to be Nabokov's weakest novel.
>
>Heather Lowe
>hsl@mindspring.com
>Atlanta, GA
**********************************
David R. Slavitt
TEL:(215) 382-3994 FAX: 382-8837
originator of the note below, is himself a well-known novelist and
Latin translator whose fiction is not without Nabokovian undercurrents. His
account of a Nabokov interview appeared on NABOKV-L.
----------------------------------------------------------------------
I have always loved *Mary* which is brilliant because of its limitations
and its wonderful joke. It prefigures *Despair* in that way, and is
literary without being altogether airless.
My least favorite novel is ADA, which is in large passages silly,
self-indulgent, and . . . smug. To many tri-lingual puns for my taste.
Too much showing off. Of course, I don't like Finnegans Wake, either.
But then, I'm only in my early sixties. Maybe in twenty years . . .
---------------------------------------------------------
>EDITOR'S NOTE. Responders to Heather Lowe's query are requested to
>briefly explain their choice.
>
>At 02:30 PM 1/24/96 -0800, you wrote:
>
>I would be interested in hearing list members' opinions on what they consider
>to be Nabokov's weakest novel.
>
>Heather Lowe
>hsl@mindspring.com
>Atlanta, GA
**********************************
David R. Slavitt
TEL:(215) 382-3994 FAX: 382-8837