Subject
Re: Lorrie Moore--again
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One might equally ask why Nabokov chose the surname Quilty. It would be rash
to suggest VN borrowed Quilty from an earlier character: Bridie Quilty,
protagonist in the film I See a Dark Stranger (1941), played by Deborah
Kerr. Given the large number of themes/incidents in both this film and
Lolita, it would not be difficult for creative, cherry-picking
pattern-seekers to convince themselves of significant links between the two
works.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_See_a_Dark_Strange
However, VN¹s choice is more plausibly TOPONYMICAL, covering both Surname
and Given Name!
Namely: the town QUILTY, County CLARE, Ireland.
For the inevitably complex and speculative etymologies/spellings of the
surname and town Quilty, see
http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Quilty
³It originates from the pre 10th century Gaelic surname O' Caoilte meaning
the male descendant of Caol, a nickname for a slender person, from caol
meaning small or slight, or from coillte meaning woods or forest and hence a
topographical name for a resident in a wooded area.²
More at: http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Quilty#ixzz24SeGa6zj
All this dilutes, without, of course, disproving, the hypothesis that Lorrie
More
had Nabakov¹s Clare Quilty in mind when naming her character. Jay
Livingstone is commendably cautious of a causal connection, based as it is
on tenuous plot similarities. But the dissimilarities are overwhelming
enough to cast stronger doubts! The two Quilties can hardly be more
different. Blind Queer versus Insightful, Straight Nymphet-and Car-chasing,
Porno-movie director.
Look again at Jay¹s extract from Moore¹s What You Want Fine:
There is a song his Mack¹s aunt used to sing to him when he was little. ³I
am a man upon the land. I am a silkie on the sea.² . . . . It was a
creature who comes back to fetch his child his child by a woman on the
land. But the woman¹s new husband is a hunter, a good shot, and kills him
when he tries to escape back to the sea with the child. Perhaps that was
best, in the end. Still the song was sad stolen love, lost love,
amphibious doom . . .
It¹s worth noting the lyrics of this ballad (Number 113 in Child¹s
definitive collection), one of many devoted to the diverse Silkie (aka
Selkie) myths common to Norse and Celtic folklore.
The Great Silkie of Sule Skerry
An earthly nurse sits and sings,
And aye, she sings by lily wean,
And little ken I my bairn's father,
Far less the land where he dwells in.
For he came on night to her bed feet,
And a grumbly guest, I'm sure was he,
Saying "Here am I, thy bairn's father,
Although I be not comely."
"I am a man upon the land,
I am a silkie on the sea,
And when I'm far and far frae land,
My home it is in Sule Skerrie."
And he had ta'en a purse of gold
And he had placed it upon her knee,
Saying, "Give to me my little young son,
And take thee up thy nurse's fee."
"And it shall come to pass on a summer's day,
When the sun shines bright on every stane,
I'll come and fetch my little young son,
And teach him how to swim the faem."
"And ye shall marry a gunner good,
And a right fine gunner I'm sure he'll be,
And the very first shot that e'er he shoots
Will kill both my young son and me."
---------------
I humbly submit that, however creative be our allusion-chasers, it¹s
well-nigh impossible to link this tale plausibly with Nabokov¹s Lolita. In
any case, this is Mack¹s Aunt singing to Moore¹s Quilty, so identifying or
relating the characters in the ballad with those in Lolita is problematical
to say the least. One might have more luck with Pale Fire!? Well ... Exiles,
mixed identities, bad shooting, watery deaths (only joking ;=))
But, let¹s assume an intended Lolita link in
It was a creature who comes back to fetch his child his child by a woman
on the land. But the woman¹s new husband is a hunter, a good shot, and
kills him when he tries to escape back to the sea with the child.
Count the risible plot discrepancies and potential anachronisms:
If the creature is Humbert Humbert, can his child by a woman on the land
(implying paternity rather than step-fatherhood) really be his
child-mistress-nymphet Lolita? We¹ll tolerantly accept this to prolong the
fun! But immediately, VN¹s time-lines for Quilty¹s murder get badly out of
synch with Moore¹s Silkie ballad. HH¹s fetching his child has already failed
before his encounter with CQ. His failure in winning her back is
acknowledged with a farewell gift of money and a sweet American¹ goodbye.
As compensation, HH gets confirmation of CQ¹s sordid role, and, vital to
VN¹s plot, learns of CQ¹s whereabouts. HH sets off for revenge. More
identity confusion: the woman¹s new husband at the time of HH¹s failed
fetching is good old innocent Dick, well-named (slang for cock!) father of
Lolita¹s child-to-be, and blissfully ignorant of her past travails. Yet, in
Moore¹s tale, the woman¹s new husband is ... surprise ... none other than
the creature HH. Calling HH a hunter and good shot is hardly consistent with
CQ¹s comically botched murder, which reveals HH as possibly the worst shot
in the whole of world literature! (Did hot-shot Vronky fake his failed
suicide?) Finally, Clare Quilty, rather than trying to escape back to the
sea with the child at the time of his murder, had long since abandoned
Lolita for her disobedience.
Summary: we can¹t always know for certain why/how authors pick the names of
their characters. The best choices seem, in restrospect, to have an
indefinable INEVITABILITY. Nabokov is remarkably successful. Deliberately
borrowing from his polymathic dramatis personae is to be generally deplored.
Should we applaud or condemn the Virginia, USA rock group CLARE QUILTY?
Mixed feelings here. Homage or Exploitation?
Stan Kelly-Bootle, MA (Cantab), Dip NAAC, MAA, AMS, ASCAP
On 23/08/2012 16:04, "Nabokv-L" <nabokv-l@UTK.EDU> wrote:
> Subject:
> Lorrie Moore - Again
> From:
> Jay Livingston <livingstonj@mail.montclair.edu>
> <mailto:livingstonj@mail.montclair.edu>
> Date:
> Thu, 23 Aug 2012 09:05:56 -0400
> To:
> Vladimir Nabokov Forum <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> <mailto:NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> Lorrie Moore¹s story ³Referential² was the subject of some discussion here
> back in May. This was not her first story with an unmistakable reference to
> Nabokov. I just came across a story of hers from 1998 ³What You Want Fine²
> in her collection Birds of America (originally ³Lucky Ducks² in Harper¹s in
> slightly different form). One of the two central characters is named Quilty.
>
> The connection to Clare Quilty is obscure. Moore¹s Quilty, is homosexual and
> blind. He goes on a road trip with Mack, a divorced father, who has become
> his lover. Aside from the road trip, I can find only one other hint of a
> connection to VN¹s Quilty.
>> There is a song his Mack¹s aunt used to sing to him when he was
>> little. ³I am a man upon the land. I am a silkie on the sea.² . . . . It
>> was a creature who comes back to fetch his child his child by a woman on
>> the land. But the woman¹s new husband is a hunter, a good shot, and kills
>> him when he tries to escape back to the sea with the child. Perhaps that was
>> best, in the end. Still the song was sad stolen love, lost love,
>> amphibious doom . . .
>>
>
> Does anyone have any guesses or knowledge as to why Moore chose this name for
> the character?
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to suggest VN borrowed Quilty from an earlier character: Bridie Quilty,
protagonist in the film I See a Dark Stranger (1941), played by Deborah
Kerr. Given the large number of themes/incidents in both this film and
Lolita, it would not be difficult for creative, cherry-picking
pattern-seekers to convince themselves of significant links between the two
works.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I_See_a_Dark_Strange
However, VN¹s choice is more plausibly TOPONYMICAL, covering both Surname
and Given Name!
Namely: the town QUILTY, County CLARE, Ireland.
For the inevitably complex and speculative etymologies/spellings of the
surname and town Quilty, see
http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Quilty
³It originates from the pre 10th century Gaelic surname O' Caoilte meaning
the male descendant of Caol, a nickname for a slender person, from caol
meaning small or slight, or from coillte meaning woods or forest and hence a
topographical name for a resident in a wooded area.²
More at: http://www.surnamedb.com/Surname/Quilty#ixzz24SeGa6zj
All this dilutes, without, of course, disproving, the hypothesis that Lorrie
More
had Nabakov¹s Clare Quilty in mind when naming her character. Jay
Livingstone is commendably cautious of a causal connection, based as it is
on tenuous plot similarities. But the dissimilarities are overwhelming
enough to cast stronger doubts! The two Quilties can hardly be more
different. Blind Queer versus Insightful, Straight Nymphet-and Car-chasing,
Porno-movie director.
Look again at Jay¹s extract from Moore¹s What You Want Fine:
There is a song his Mack¹s aunt used to sing to him when he was little. ³I
am a man upon the land. I am a silkie on the sea.² . . . . It was a
creature who comes back to fetch his child his child by a woman on the
land. But the woman¹s new husband is a hunter, a good shot, and kills him
when he tries to escape back to the sea with the child. Perhaps that was
best, in the end. Still the song was sad stolen love, lost love,
amphibious doom . . .
It¹s worth noting the lyrics of this ballad (Number 113 in Child¹s
definitive collection), one of many devoted to the diverse Silkie (aka
Selkie) myths common to Norse and Celtic folklore.
The Great Silkie of Sule Skerry
An earthly nurse sits and sings,
And aye, she sings by lily wean,
And little ken I my bairn's father,
Far less the land where he dwells in.
For he came on night to her bed feet,
And a grumbly guest, I'm sure was he,
Saying "Here am I, thy bairn's father,
Although I be not comely."
"I am a man upon the land,
I am a silkie on the sea,
And when I'm far and far frae land,
My home it is in Sule Skerrie."
And he had ta'en a purse of gold
And he had placed it upon her knee,
Saying, "Give to me my little young son,
And take thee up thy nurse's fee."
"And it shall come to pass on a summer's day,
When the sun shines bright on every stane,
I'll come and fetch my little young son,
And teach him how to swim the faem."
"And ye shall marry a gunner good,
And a right fine gunner I'm sure he'll be,
And the very first shot that e'er he shoots
Will kill both my young son and me."
---------------
I humbly submit that, however creative be our allusion-chasers, it¹s
well-nigh impossible to link this tale plausibly with Nabokov¹s Lolita. In
any case, this is Mack¹s Aunt singing to Moore¹s Quilty, so identifying or
relating the characters in the ballad with those in Lolita is problematical
to say the least. One might have more luck with Pale Fire!? Well ... Exiles,
mixed identities, bad shooting, watery deaths (only joking ;=))
But, let¹s assume an intended Lolita link in
It was a creature who comes back to fetch his child his child by a woman
on the land. But the woman¹s new husband is a hunter, a good shot, and
kills him when he tries to escape back to the sea with the child.
Count the risible plot discrepancies and potential anachronisms:
If the creature is Humbert Humbert, can his child by a woman on the land
(implying paternity rather than step-fatherhood) really be his
child-mistress-nymphet Lolita? We¹ll tolerantly accept this to prolong the
fun! But immediately, VN¹s time-lines for Quilty¹s murder get badly out of
synch with Moore¹s Silkie ballad. HH¹s fetching his child has already failed
before his encounter with CQ. His failure in winning her back is
acknowledged with a farewell gift of money and a sweet American¹ goodbye.
As compensation, HH gets confirmation of CQ¹s sordid role, and, vital to
VN¹s plot, learns of CQ¹s whereabouts. HH sets off for revenge. More
identity confusion: the woman¹s new husband at the time of HH¹s failed
fetching is good old innocent Dick, well-named (slang for cock!) father of
Lolita¹s child-to-be, and blissfully ignorant of her past travails. Yet, in
Moore¹s tale, the woman¹s new husband is ... surprise ... none other than
the creature HH. Calling HH a hunter and good shot is hardly consistent with
CQ¹s comically botched murder, which reveals HH as possibly the worst shot
in the whole of world literature! (Did hot-shot Vronky fake his failed
suicide?) Finally, Clare Quilty, rather than trying to escape back to the
sea with the child at the time of his murder, had long since abandoned
Lolita for her disobedience.
Summary: we can¹t always know for certain why/how authors pick the names of
their characters. The best choices seem, in restrospect, to have an
indefinable INEVITABILITY. Nabokov is remarkably successful. Deliberately
borrowing from his polymathic dramatis personae is to be generally deplored.
Should we applaud or condemn the Virginia, USA rock group CLARE QUILTY?
Mixed feelings here. Homage or Exploitation?
Stan Kelly-Bootle, MA (Cantab), Dip NAAC, MAA, AMS, ASCAP
On 23/08/2012 16:04, "Nabokv-L" <nabokv-l@UTK.EDU> wrote:
> Subject:
> Lorrie Moore - Again
> From:
> Jay Livingston <livingstonj@mail.montclair.edu>
> <mailto:livingstonj@mail.montclair.edu>
> Date:
> Thu, 23 Aug 2012 09:05:56 -0400
> To:
> Vladimir Nabokov Forum <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> <mailto:NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> Lorrie Moore¹s story ³Referential² was the subject of some discussion here
> back in May. This was not her first story with an unmistakable reference to
> Nabokov. I just came across a story of hers from 1998 ³What You Want Fine²
> in her collection Birds of America (originally ³Lucky Ducks² in Harper¹s in
> slightly different form). One of the two central characters is named Quilty.
>
> The connection to Clare Quilty is obscure. Moore¹s Quilty, is homosexual and
> blind. He goes on a road trip with Mack, a divorced father, who has become
> his lover. Aside from the road trip, I can find only one other hint of a
> connection to VN¹s Quilty.
>> There is a song his Mack¹s aunt used to sing to him when he was
>> little. ³I am a man upon the land. I am a silkie on the sea.² . . . . It
>> was a creature who comes back to fetch his child his child by a woman on
>> the land. But the woman¹s new husband is a hunter, a good shot, and kills
>> him when he tries to escape back to the sea with the child. Perhaps that was
>> best, in the end. Still the song was sad stolen love, lost love,
>> amphibious doom . . .
>>
>
> Does anyone have any guesses or knowledge as to why Moore chose this name for
> the character?
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/