On Jan 17, 2010, at 5:22 PM, John Morris wrote:
the poem is, let's face it, Nabokovian in the highest degree!
I think the greatness of a piece of art precedes the reputation of its creator.
Genius sometimes stumbles, the mediocre sometimes succeed.
I think the value of PF, the poem, is to be found, then,
chiefly within the poem itself.
Indeed, it detracts from the [aesthetic] wholeness [integrity] of a piece
if it depends too much on its commentary for its goodness,
Practically, it makes it difficult to recite,
as the audience needs more information than what the poem-as-script provides.
he offered long excerpts from the poem at public readings
I'm very interested in VN's public readings though,
and would like to know more them,
and especially if available online.