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Vladimir Nabokov, Literary Refugee
- leephillips 8y ago“Nabokov set about perfecting a brand of English that had not existed before and has not been seen since.” A wonderful essay by a writer who understands what the Russian Revolution actually overthrew, unlike most Americans, who only know the Soviet version. Contains a reproduction of Nabokov’s U.S. immigrant ID card, with the word “without” entered in the space for nationality.
- leggomylibro 8y agoThis was a fascinating read, I hadn't heard about his thing with Pasternak or how they thought that the Soviets 'leaked' his novel; nowadays it seems sort of odd to see exporting culture as something furtive. Did regimes used to try to prevent their nation's literature from spreading, or am I misunderstanding something? "We are absurdly accustomed to the miracle of a few written signs being able to contain immortal imagery, involutions of thought, new worlds with live people, speaking, weeping, laughing. We take it for granted so simply that in a sense, by the very act of brutish routine acceptance, we undo the work of ages, the history of gradual elaboration of poetical description and construction, from treeman to Browning, from the caveman to Keats. What if we awake one day, all of us, and find ourselves utterly unable to read? I wish you to gasp not only at what you read, but at the miracle of it's being readable." - Pale Fire
- pvg 8y agoDid regimes used to try to prevent their nation's literature The regime did not allow literature it disapproved of and Dr. Zhivago was not a work they approved of. It was not published until someone contrived to smuggle it out.
- leggomylibro 8y agoAh, that makes a lot more sense - thanks.
- pjc50 8y ago> Did regimes used to try to prevent their nation's literature from spreading, or am I misunderstanding something? The Soviet Union had an extremely vigorous censorship regime. Even the UK did until the 1960s and the Lady Chatterly trial.
- deleted 8y ago[deleted]
- tomcam 8y agoHis was to me the most beautiful English prose of the last four centuries, by a generous margin. There was never any trace of foreignness in it. I literally cannot imagine learning another language that fully.
- thaumasiotes 8y agoIt would happen automatically if you were young enough. Interestingly, while Nabokov learned to write perfect English, he never was able to speak it.
- copperx 8y agoHe was never able to speak it well? Or at all?
- tomcam 8y ago> while Nabokov learned to write perfect English, he never was able to speak it Lots of interviews on YouTube suggest otherwise... https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ldpj_5JNFoA https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=Ldpj_5JNFoA
- dang 8y agoI was about to post that link too. Here's a relatively dramatic segment: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ldpj_5JNFoA#t=2m56s https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ldpj_5JNFoA#t=2m56s. Notice the famous index cards.
- thaumasiotes 8y ago> Notice the famous index cards. If you already knew that Nabokov's interviews consisted entirely of remarks prepared in advance... why would you post that as a counterexample to "he wasn't able to speak perfect English"? That's the whole reason he prepared his responses. Choirs frequently perform songs in foreign languages; nobody takes that as evidence that the members are able to speak those languages.
- GrryDucape 8y agoSometimes one wonders why the Times wanders so far afield, picking up where the New Yorker and others once thrived. Other times, like this one, the cause is clear, pure and joyous, a stab in the literary darkness of our times.
- matt4077 8y agoThe New Yorker is still quite thriving, and is publishing stories that would also work for the Times (cf Ronan Farrow’s #metoo scoops). The Atlantic has massively improved and now close to their level (cf Graeme Woods), albeit with less of a focus on literature. It feels like these publishers are somewhat converging, doing a rather good job connecting (paying) excellent writers with the high end of readership, with not too much deference to the material being a perfect fit for their respective wheelhouses.