On Thu, Aug 19, 2010 at 8:48 AM, Stan Kelly-Bootle
<stan@bootle.biz> wrote:
Two fatidic deaths on August 17, 2010 with interesting VN connections.
[...]
Better known to VN-listers, perhaps, is Sir Frank Kermode (1919-2010)
[...]
from the little I’ve gleaned so far, FK was not overly fond of VN. I judge from just the opening of his snide LRB review (Protonymphet) of VN’s The Enchanter, translated by DN:
http://www.lrb.co.uk/v09/n03/frank-kermode/protonymphet
I’m awaiting access to the full review, which I’m sure is well-known to VN-archivists, together with other interactions between FK and VN.
...
You may be able to see some of his comments on VN by clicking on the links at
That may not work outside the U.S., and anyway his review of Pale Fire is now unavailable. Kermode was one of the few who liked Bend Sinister and took it seriously--you can read that review in full--and he had high praise for The Defense, referring to VN as "this surely great writer". However, he was unenthusiastic about Pale Fire, which he said offered "only a kibitzer's pleasure".
PS: more fatidics! My first great-grand-child, a daughter, Elise Rose Coxon, was born August 12th, 2010. Same virgulean date as my mother ADA! My prezzie was CD of Brendel playing Beethoven’s Bagatelle in A minor. Puzzle-lovers will know WHY!
Mazel tov!
Jerry Friedman