Vladimir Nabokov: The Real Life Of Sebastian Knight

[Peder]

I just had to pipe up to say that I'm enjoying this thread immensely (albeit from the sidelines.) (The Real Life of Still I. Learn has been keeping me pretty much on my own toes lately but I am checking in on as regular a basis as can be managed.)

Thank you all so much for keeping up the side.

Go Team!

The wonderful explanations in the invisible ink have been of invaluable assistance to this thick-headed and oft-and-easily-baffled Nabokovian novice.

SIL,
It is always a pleasure to hear from you, and a great joy to hear that you stay in touch with us. When your great writing hand is free to regale us again I am sure that you will, and we shall once again be blown away by the elegance of your imagination. Of course we hope that is soon and we all look forward to it. It isn't the same without you.
Most sincerely,
Charles

 

[StillILearn]

Still, you are fantastic! I hope whatever it is that is keeping you in your real life is positive and nothing serious, and we all look forward to your return.

Thank you so much, steffee. It's nothing serious -- just Life! And we all know what that's like.

 

[StillILearn]

SIL,
It isn't the same without you.
Most sincerely,
Charles

Dearest Charles,

That is so sweet of you. (Actually, I was almost thinking about starting a thread called: Look at the Parentheses for a minute there.)

 

[pontalba]

Nabokov peppered his novels with bits and pieces of his own life, as does Sebastian Knight. One glaring example is the letter that appears in the interior novel of Sebastian's "Lost Property". On pages 109-112 the lover that is essentially dumping the girl tells her that he really loves her........but. Classic case of a letter gone astray in every way. Wrong envelope in a crashed plane. In it our author V claims that all of Sebastian's feelings towards Clare are contained in this letter.

If we abstract from this fictitious letter everything that is personal to its supposed author, I believe that there is much in it that may have been felt by Sebastian, or even written by him, to Clare. He had a queer habit of endowing even his most grotesque characters with this or that idea, or impression, or desire which he himself might have toyed with. His hero's letter may possibly have been a kind of code in which he expressed a few truths about his relations with Clare.

Also earlier it is brought out how Clare organizes Sebastian so much in fact that in the section right after the above it is said that...

Curiously enough, Clare's girlish forgetfulness had been replaced by a perfect clarity and steadiness of purpose when handling Sebastian's affairs; but now it all went amuck. He had never learnt to use a typewriter and was much too nervous to begin now. The Funny Mountain was published simultaneously in two American magazines, and Sebastian was at a loss to remember how he had managed to sell it to two different people.

 

[StillILearn]

pontalba =

It has been thin on here lately, so I did wonder how or when more VN would go, but I look forward to whatever discussions we can get going on Our Lad.

Just a thought: I've noticed that a few people have fairly recently purchased and/or read Lolita. Do you think maybe we should search out that thread and have a small pop quiz? Kind of like a sorbet between courses?

Nobody ever says "no" to Lolita.

What about you, abc? Shall we meet you there? And who else has been reading about that dear, sweet (and much maligned) little girl?

 

[pontalba]

If as many finish it as start, thats a great idea! There have been 4 or 5 lately I've noticed. I wonder what kind of time frame they are working with. We can always do more with Lolita, thats a bottomless well of opportunity.

 

[steffee]

pontalba =

Just a thought: I've noticed that a few people have fairly recently purchased and/or read Lolita. Do you think maybe we should search out that thread and have a small pop quiz? Kind of like a sorbet between courses?

Nobody ever says "no" to Lolita.

What about you, abc? Shall we meet you there? And who else has been reading about that dear, sweet (and much maligned) little girl?

Ooh what a great idea! Beer good, I think, has just bought Lolita. ABC and Stewart have recently read it. It will give me a chance to read my new annotated copy! Yay!!

Peder, thanks for narrowing all those choices down. I think I shall be looking for Harlequins, whatever we decide to "go with" next now. I loved your "done started" done finished" and "done discussed" thingies. Yay!

 

[Peder]

Nabokov peppered his novels with bits and pieces of his own life, as does Sebastian Knight. One glaring example is the letter that appears in the interior novel of Sebastian's "Lost Property". On pages 109-112 the lover that is essentially dumping the girl tells her that he really loves her........but. Classic case of a letter gone astray in every way. Wrong envelope in a crashed plane. In it our author V claims that all of Sebastian's feelings towards Clare are contained in this letter.

Also earlier it is brought out how Clare organizes Sebastian so much in fact that in the section right after the above it is said that...

Yes Pontalba,
And no doubt VN's feelings toward Vera. (Your reason for pointing out the selections, I am sure).
And Sebastian wondering how he could have sold the same story twice?! VN's intimation that just such a fate might have befallen him also, but for Vera. Yet another tribute to Vera and all she did for the business side also of their joint V&V enterprise. She was everything to his life, and in all aspects his life. I can hardly wait to read The Gift, where I think she is reputed to be visible overtly. How much more overtly can she be visible in the writings of this man, who wears his heart for her on his sleeve?
Peder

 

[pontalba]

She was everything to his life, and in all aspects his life.

Yes! Peder thats exactly it. Both in Sebastian Knight and Glory and even Pnin its as though VN is exploring the possible scenarios that his life could have or would have taken.......but for Vera. She balanced him in every way. In his art, in his mental meanderings, and of course in the practical aspects of life. If ever there was a balanced, as perfect as you can get on this planet, relationship it was theirs.

When I say mental meanderings I mean, suppose he'd decided to take Martin's route....VN has hinted that those very ideas occured to him to carry out, she put the kibosh on that little enterprise!
Just think his magnificant talent could have gone by the wayside...but for Vera.

 

[Peder]

The Doubtful Asphodel

I've been reading and rereading the powerful windup of Sebastian Knight, in the 30 or so pages after V's discovery and unmasking of Nina, and I am daunted at even trying to put down any thoughts, there are so many. But one step at a time.
First the Asphodel, another strange new word for my vocabulary from Nabokov. Wikipedia tells us that in mythology it is the flower that covered the plains of Hades; and it also seems once to have been part of the Lily family. (White lilies are present at funerals as the symbol of purity and renewed innocence at death, as at the Resurrection, according to my google search.)

So why The Doubtful Asphodel? How does a flower become doubtful?
We read V summarizing Sebastian's novel of that same name.
As the protagonist lies dying (pp.176-178):

The theme of the book is simple: a man is dying ...

"But the dying man knew that... only half of the notion of death can be said really to exist: this side of the question -- the wrench, the parting, the quay of life gently moving away a flutter with handkerchiefs: ah! he was already on the other side, if he could see the beach receding; no, not quite -- if he was still thinking."

We feel that we are on the brink of some absolute truth ... By an incredible feat of suggestive wording the author makes us feel that he knows the truth about death and that he is going to tell it. In a moment or two, at the end of this sentence, in the middle of the next, or perhaps a little further still, we shall learn something that will change all our concepts....

The answer to all questions of life and death, the absolute solution, was written all over the world he had known ...

Now the puzzle was solved ...and now we shall know exactly what it is; the word will be uttered...

The word is being already formed and will come out ... but that minute of [our] doubt was fatal: the man is dead.

The man is dead and we do not know. The asphodel on the other shore is as doubtful as ever."

Peder

 

[Peder]

Yes! Peder thats exactly it. Both in Sebastian Knight and Glory and even Pnin its as though VN is exploring the possible scenarios that his life could have or would have taken.......but for Vera. She balanced him in every way. In his art, in his mental meanderings, and of course in the practical aspects of life. If ever there was a balanced, as perfect as you can get on this planet, relationship it was theirs.

When I say mental meanderings I mean, suppose he'd decided to take Martin's route....VN has hinted that those very ideas occured to him to carry out, she put the kibosh on that little enterprise!
Just think his magnificant talent could have gone by the wayside...but for Vera.

Pontalba,
Alternate scenarios throughout his novels. What a thought! Not only echoes of his actual life, but also of his thoughts about his life and paths it might have taken. No wonder the rich texture that hangs together. Of characters and personalities that seem so much more real than fake. Nabokov's real world and the world around him, and in him, put on paper.
Wonderful insight Pontalba!
But my aren't we in somber moods this morning, your last horrible thought that his talent might have been sidetracked, and my post on the doubtful other side.
It's too much.
I need my coffee (SIL and gem take note)
Peder

 

[StillILearn]

...

The answer to all questions of life and death, the absolute solution, was written all over the world he had known ...

Now the puzzle was solved ...and now we shall know exactly what it is; the word will be uttered...

The word is being already formed and will come out ... but that minute of [our] doubt was fatal: the man is dead.

The man is dead and we do not know. The asphodel on the other shore is as doubtful as ever."

Stunning. Just -- stunning.

 

[Peder]

Stunning. Just -- stunning.

Well, Good Morning, SIL!
Summon the spirits and they appear!
Stunning is the word.
The writing excerpts that VN has crammed into this novel about the life and writings of another author are extraordinary. To notice them and point them out with even the merest comment about each would lead to a very full thread, and breathtaking. (So, I guess, given time, why not? Everyone pitch in! There's more than enough to go around!) It seems that, when VN decides to produce a cameo character or a cameo piece of writing for some 'other' author, he really turns to and produces a miniature masterpiece. And the train ride is yet to come! Not to mention the bedside vigil. And so on. They seem to be Nabokov's takes on set-pieces crammed one right after the other, to produce what for me is an overwhelming finish.
Good to see you,
Peder

 

[StillILearn]

I'm trying to figure out just what gave VN the ability to write like this. Do you think it was the three by five index cards?

I mean, I read somewhere that a writer should only try to create one very small scene at a time (like the space in a tiny little picture frame, for instance), but maybe I didn't take it literally enough?

 

[Peder]

I'm trying to figure out just what gave VN the ability to write like this. Do you think it was the three by five index cards?

I mean, I read somewhere that a writer should only try to create one very small scene at a time (like the space in a tiny little picture frame, for instance), but maybe I didn't take it literally enough?

Still,
I think that is a very deep and perceptive question you are asking.
I'm only answering to say I hope somebody else has some thoughts because creative writing sure ain't my league. I am sure you have seen the same anecdotal advice I have, plus much more since you are interested, but the only thing that ever struck me as intrinsically truthful was the observation that every great writer does it their way. There is no greatness in imitation, or being the second Mr/s Famous (although there may be some money it).

And BTW, Miss SIL I have seen your creative writing here and it has blown me away, so you are no slouch. I hope you have not so quickly forgotten the post of yours that moved SFG to say there should be a Hall of Fame for outstanding posts. He was right! And your's should be the first in. And that is not only the one post. When you uncork it, you have it, IMHO!

A second correct-sounding thought comes up from down below in Writers Corner, when once I visited, regarding the question of revising or rewriting. Some one in B&R will remember the advice they once gave: If it isn't good, throw it out and rewrite it until it is good; if it is good, then revise and polish until it is excellent. (The analog of this rule in the software world is: "Write the program twice; throw the first one away.") Cards would facilitate that on an individual sentence basis, as you have wondered. I have the feeling this was Nabokov's way, from the scribbled manuscript pages I have seen and the one example he gives in SK.p.37 bottom, as well as from the number of times Vera is reported to have retyped the entire Lolita manuscript (seven comes to mind and maybe more).

But there is much better advice that you can find than from me, I am sure.

peder

 

[Peder]

PS SIL,
In case you are intrested in what Nabokov himself thought about how the written word should sound on paper, then there are his Lectures on Literature, and Lectures on Russian Literature, which I hear contain his detailed (and very stringent) views. The amazon reviews will provide some guidance about them.
Peder

 

[pontalba]

I'm trying to figure out just what gave VN the ability to write like this. Do you think it was the three by five index cards?

I mean, I read somewhere that a writer should only try to create one very small scene at a time (like the space in a tiny little picture frame, for instance), but maybe I didn't take it literally enough?

It seems I just saw something about his 3x5's a few days ago. Can't find the reference again though, if I do, I'll post it. I do remember that at some point he switched to the index cards, but can't remember which book it was associated with.

 

[pontalba]

First the Asphodel, another strange new word for my vocabulary from Nabokov. Wikipedia tells us that in mythology it is the flower that covered the plains of Hades; and it also seems once to have been part of the Lily family.
So why The Doubtful Asphodel? How does a flower become doubtful?
Peder

A bit later down the pages you quote, V speaks of how the first time he saw The Doubtful Asphodel announced, how he visualized Sebastian so happy and content. When at the time Sebastian was in fact miserable and dying. Fact vs Fiction. Isn't this the same puzzle that Sebastian presents in his book. He speaks of a mystery about to be solved. Of being just on the very edge of the cusp of knowledge so to speak, and a small hesitation denies him the desired knowledge.

The man is dead and we do not know. The asphodel on the other shore is as doubtful as ever. We hold a dead book in our hands.

I think Sebastian (Nabokov) means that the asphodel's very existance is doubtful. And if the flowers existance is doubtful, so are its surroundings...."the other side". Dead book = dead body.

BTW, the link was great! I'd never heard of it. And had not "googled" either

 

[Gem]

Hello,

I haven't read this thread yet as I just started reading the book earlier this evening, and have about 50 pages to go. But could someone please tell me whether we ever find out who V is? I'm beginning to suspect we don't and it'll be one of those questions that i'll constantly think about.

EDIT: I didn't exactly write that very clearly; i meant do we find out his name.

 

[pontalba]

Hello,

I haven't read this thread yet as I just started reading the book earlier this evening, and have about 50 pages to go. But could someone please tell me whether we ever find out who V is? I'm beginning to suspect we don't and it'll be one of those questions that i'll constantly think about.

EDIT: I didn't exactly write that very clearly; i meant do we find out his name.

Unfortunately "V" is all we get. Some say it may stand for Vladimirovich. /shrugs shoulders/ No certainty though.
Somewhere he claims that he doesn't want to draw undue attention to himself. We can make of that what we will.

Can't wait for your impressions though!