{"id":7117,"date":"2018-10-06T18:15:53","date_gmt":"2018-10-06T18:15:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.repeatright.com\/engine\/?p=7117"},"modified":"2018-10-06T18:38:24","modified_gmt":"2018-10-06T18:38:24","slug":"nabokov-vladimir","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.repeatright.com\/engine\/nabokov-vladimir\/","title":{"rendered":"NABOKOV, Vladimir"},"content":{"rendered":"
[vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1453315804311{margin-top: -40px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” add_icon=”true” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1449531588223-e020d87d-f7dd094f-cf635381-89e546a7-a3b4″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

\u201cH<\/strong>uman life is but a series of footnotes to a vast obscure unfinished masterpiece.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Vladimir Nabokov<\/strong>, Russian-American author<\/p>\n

\u201cCommentary\u201d (1962) Pale Fire<\/em>, New York, NY: G.P.Putnam\u2019s Sons, p. 272<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-ban” add_icon=”true” title=”Misquotes” tab_id=”1453315829287-33b1178b-1c815381-89e546a7-a3b4″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Re-quote note<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: Although Nabokov didn’t include commas in his original line, it is often paraphrased with additional punctuation: \u201cExistence is a series of footnotes to a vast, obscure, unfinished masterpiece.<\/span>\u201d<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” add_icon=”true” title=”Context” tab_id=”1449531588755-96303790-852e094f-cf635381-89e546a7-a3b4″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Extended excerpt<\/em><\/strong> [Fiction. Punctuation is original to cited source.]:<\/p>\n

\u201cIf I correctly understand the sense of this succinct observation, our poet suggests here that human life is but a series of footnotes to a vast obscure unfinished masterpiece.<\/span>\u201d (p. 272)<\/p>\n

\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” add_icon=”true” title=”Source ISBN” tab_id=”1449531589797-29580b31-8c50094f-cf635381-89e546a7-a3b4″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

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Source<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: Library – Pale Fire<\/em> (1962|G.P. Putnam\u2019s Sons) Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) No. 289702<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” add_icon=”true” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1453315829087-ce67c619-0fbc5381-89e546a7-a3b4″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

\u201cLife is a great surprise. I do not see why death should not be an even greater one.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Vladimir Nabokov<\/strong>, Russian-American author<\/p>\n

\u201cCommentary\u201d (1962) Pale Fire<\/em>, New York, NY: G.P.Putnam\u2019s Sons, p. 225<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” add_icon=”true” title=”Context” tab_id=”1453315829475-7c82a017-1e625381-89e546a7-a3b4″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Extended excerpt<\/em><\/strong> [Fictional dialogue. Character names appear in text]:<\/p>\n

\u201cShade: Life is a great surprise. I do not see why death should not be an even greater one<\/span>.<\/p>\n

Kinbote: Now I have caught you, John: once we deny a Higher Intelligence that plans and administers our individual hereafters we are bound to accept the unspeakably dreadful notion of Chance reaching into eternity.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” add_icon=”true” title=”Source ISBN” tab_id=”1453315829682-63e8fade-cf4c5381-89e546a7-a3b4″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

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Source<\/strong><\/em><\/span>: Library – Pale Fire<\/em> (1962|G.P. Putnam\u2019s Sons) Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) No. 289702<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1453316221301{margin-top: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” add_icon=”true” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1453315828001-b5e2e52e-ea1e5381-89e546a7-a3b4″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

\u201cO<\/strong>ur existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Vladimir Nabokov<\/strong>, Russian-American author<\/p>\n

Speak, Memory<\/em> (1951) New York, NY: Grosset & Dunlap, p. 1<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” add_icon=”true” title=”Context” tab_id=”1453315828385-86abfac4-79bf5381-89e546a7-a3b4″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Extended excerpt<\/em><\/strong> [Memoir]:\u00a0 \u201cThe cradle rocks above an abyss, and common sense tells us that our existence is but a brief crack of light between two eternities of darkness.<\/span>\u201d (p. 1)<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” add_icon=”true” title=”Source ISBN” tab_id=”1453315828572-dac97b48-68e05381-89e546a7-a3b4″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

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Source<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: Library \u2013 Speak, Memory<\/em> (1951) Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) No. 610310298<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” add_icon=”true” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1449531591105-7edf5f39-feaa094f-cf635381-89e546a7-a3b4″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

\u201cSatire is a lesson, parody is a game.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Vladimir Nabokov<\/strong>, Russian-American author<\/p>\n

Interview by Alfred Appel, Jr. (25-29 September 1966) Montreux, Switzerland; published in \u201cAn Interview with Vladimir Nabokov,\u201d Wisconsin Studies in<\/em> Contemporary Literature<\/em>, Vol. VIII, No. 2, Spring 1967, Madison, WI: Board of Regents of the University of Wisconsin System, p. 138; online via JSTOR [subscription service] www.jstor.org<\/a><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” add_icon=”true” title=”Context” tab_id=”1449531591631-43861bc7-da28094f-cf635381-89e546a7-a3b4″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Extended excerpt<\/em><\/strong> [Interview]:<\/p>\n[Interviewer: Alfred Appel, Jr.]\n

\u201cQ<\/em>: Do you make a clear distinction between satire and parody? I ask this because you have so often said you do not wish to be taken as a \u201cmoral satirist,\u201d and yet parody is so central to your vision.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n[Vladimir Nabokov]\n

\u201cA<\/em>: Satire is a lesson, parody is a game.<\/span>\u201d (p. 138)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

Context note<\/em><\/strong>: According to the interview preface, interviewer Alfred Appel, Jr. had been a student of Nabokov\u2019s while attending Cornell University in 1954. (p. 127)<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” add_icon=”true” title=”Source Link” tab_id=”1449531592891-f39e055b-a66e094f-cf635381-89e546a7-a3b4″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

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Source link<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: \u201cAn Interview with Vladimir Nabokov\u201d (Spring 1967) Wisconsin Studies in Contemporary Literature<\/em>, online via JSTOR: www.jstor.org\/stable\/1207097?seq=1#page_scan_tab_contents<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row css=”.vc_custom_1453316221301{margin-top: 0px !important;border-top-width: 0px !important;padding-top: 0px !important;}”][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” add_icon=”true” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1453315828001-b5e2e52e-ea1e5381-89e546a7-a3b4″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

\u201cThe breaking of a wave cannot explain the whole sea.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Vladimir Nabokov<\/strong>, Russian-American author<\/p>\n

The Real Life of Sebastian Knight<\/em> (1941) Norfolk, Connecticut: New Directions, p. 105<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” add_icon=”true” title=”Context” tab_id=”1453315828385-86abfac4-79bf5381-89e546a7-a3b4″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Extended excerpt<\/em><\/strong> [Fiction \u2013 The Back of the Moon<\/em> referenced here is a fictitious work]:<\/p>\n

\u201cIndeed, I believe that granting \u201csex\u201d a special situation when tackling a human problem, or worse still, letting the \u201csexual idea,\u201d if such a thing exists, pervade and \u201cexplain\u201d all the rest is a grave error of reasoning. \u201cThe breaking of a wave cannot explain the whole sea<\/span>, from its moon to its serpent; but a pool in the cup of a rock and the diamond-rippled road to Cathay are both water.\u201d (The Back of the Moon<\/em>.)\u201d (p. 105)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-search” add_icon=”true” title=”Source ISBN” tab_id=”1453315828572-dac97b48-68e05381-89e546a7-a3b4″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

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Source<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: Library – The Real Life of Sebastian Knight<\/em> (1941|New Directions) Online Computer Library Center (OCLC) No. 289896<\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][vc_column width=”1\/2″][vc_tta_tabs style=”modern” shape=”square” active_section=”1″][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-book” add_icon=”true” title=”Citation” tab_id=”1449531591105-7edf5f39-feaa094f-cf635381-89e546a7-a3b4″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

\u201cThe clumsiest literal translation is a thousand times more useful than the prettiest paraphrase.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

~Vladimir Nabokov<\/strong>, Russian-American author<\/p>\n

\u201cProblems of Translation: \u201cOnegin\u201d in English\u201d (Fall 1955) Partisan Review<\/em>, Vol. XXII, No. 4, New York, NY: Foundation for Cultural Projects, p. 496; online via Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center, Boston University, Boston, MA, hgar-srv3bu.edu<\/a><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][vc_tta_section i_icon_fontawesome=”fa fa-plus-circle” add_icon=”true” title=”Context” tab_id=”1449531591631-43861bc7-da28094f-cf635381-89e546a7-a3b4″][vc_column_text css_animation=”none”]\n

Extended excerpt<\/em><\/strong> [Essay \u2013 Nabokov is referring to the English translation of the Russian classic novel Onegin<\/em> by Alexander Pushkin]:<\/p>\n

\u201cIt is when the translator sets out to render the \u201cspirit\u201d \u2013 not the textual sense \u2013 that he begins to traduce his author. The clumsiest literal translation is a thousand times more useful than the prettiest paraphrase.<\/span>\u201d (p. 496)<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

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Source link<\/em><\/strong><\/span>: \u201cProblems of Translation: \u201cOnegin\u201d in English\u201d (Fall 1955) Partisan Review, online via Howard Gotlieb Archival Research Center: http:\/\/hgar-srv3.bu.edu\/collections\/partisan-review\/search\/detail?id=326017<\/a><\/p>\n[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_tta_section][\/vc_tta_tabs][\/vc_column][\/vc_row][vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text]\n

Resources<\/h4>\n[\/vc_column_text][vc_column_text css_animation=”none” el_class=”Wrapper-Author-Resources”]Learn more about Vladimir Nabokov<\/strong><\/span>| Here are a few good places to start –<\/p>\n