tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post7519781668176866263..comments2024-01-13T18:57:18.243-05:00Comments on Information Processing: Nabokov on teachingSteve Hsuhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/02428333897272913660noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-34965150588160809142015-03-01T09:44:35.597-05:002015-03-01T09:44:35.597-05:00Your comment is ridiculous. 1st, Lolita is not the...Your comment is ridiculous. 1st, Lolita is not the name of the character- she is Dolores Haze, otherwise known as Lola or Dolly or Lo. Lolita is only the name Humbert Humbert gives her in his fantasies. 2nd, it's the name Humbert Humbert comes up with, and he can pronounce it the way he wants to- the Italian or Spanish way. Why not? 3rd, Humbert Humbert is European, not American.Di Nguyennoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-7427212420150236472013-11-09T22:40:49.805-05:002013-11-09T22:40:49.805-05:00"Nabokov is the best English language stylist..."Nabokov is the best English language stylist I've ever read." right and i've read that pollock conrad described in the same way.<br /><br /><br />ANY author who writes in a language he didn't learn from birth is going to be BAD as literateurs go. what passes for good writing is not only subjective but the standard in america for good is BAD.<br /><br /><br />i have an ax toDiogenesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-56702543561288828372013-11-09T13:21:59.670-05:002013-11-09T13:21:59.670-05:00When I was just 21 I came to California and taught...When I was just 21 I came to California and taught driving. I had to do something. Driving around San Francisco was not a bad job. But you do find yourself somewhere in the car with a half hour to kill before the next appointment.<br />My solution - Lolita.<br />I kept a paperback of Lolita with me in the back seat. I knew I could always pick it up randomly and read a page or a passage that wouldAlbertosaurusnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-42089550242317601152013-11-04T18:42:13.590-05:002013-11-04T18:42:13.590-05:00Because Nabokov makes it seem cool to be pedantic,...Because Nabokov makes it seem cool to be pedantic, let me point out that somebody's autocorrect spellchecker messed this quote up:<br /><br />"A rustic arising simultaneously"<br /><br /><br /><br />should be <br /><br /><br />"A rustle arising simultaneously"stevesailernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-7709756035651328222013-11-03T02:40:16.647-05:002013-11-03T02:40:16.647-05:00"The first paragraph of Lolita, one of my fav..."The first paragraph of Lolita, one of my favorites in all of literature:<br /><br />Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: <br />the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to <br />tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta."<br /><br />it makes me want to throw up. now the ultimate fighting and professoring are making sense.<br />Diogenesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-73523324137637242242013-11-02T17:05:33.292-04:002013-11-02T17:05:33.292-04:00He should have written in Italian then, if that...He should have written in Italian then, if that's what he cares so much about. And settled in Italy instead of getting a cushy position at Cornell. And remain unknown to the rest of the world after publishing his novel. Jeez, what a humbug.DKnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-90453518542595052502013-11-02T08:22:50.260-04:002013-11-02T08:22:50.260-04:00From the linked interview:
However, it should not...From the linked interview:<br /><br />However, it should not be pronounced as you and most Americans pronounce it: Low-lee-ta, with a heavy, clammy “L” and a long “o.” No, the first syllable should be as in “lollipop,” the “L” liquid and delicate, the “lee” not too sharp. Spaniards and Italians pronounce it, of course, with exactly the necessary note of archness and caress.Raymond Shavernoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-83873907260643734942013-10-31T07:35:15.274-04:002013-10-31T07:35:15.274-04:00Today the book qualifies as child pornography, and...Today the book qualifies as child pornography, and the movie is borderline.BobSykesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-13988890172094697132013-10-30T21:52:08.875-04:002013-10-30T21:52:08.875-04:00the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps...<i>the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap</i><br /><br />Is that really true? When I say it, my tongue goes step up and then step down: lo (on the teeth), lee (on the palate), ta (back to the teeth). Never liked his flowery prose anyway. And of course it is utter BS to claim that Anna Karenina does not make sense without knowing an arrangement of the DKnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-28510948504816539842013-10-30T15:50:47.915-04:002013-10-30T15:50:47.915-04:00this guy was a pervert. like all teachers. someone...this guy was a pervert. like all teachers. someone remarked to me recently that she believed all male public school teachers were gay, and that it was sad.Diogenesnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5880610.post-47994327666063747552013-10-30T14:57:05.304-04:002013-10-30T14:57:05.304-04:00I once heard a story about a Nabokov exam -- appar...I once heard a story about a Nabokov exam -- apparently he was fond of asking students to recall details like the color/pattern of the wallpaper as described in a specific scene in a novel. Of a piece with the semi-sleeping car diagram he considered essential to understanding Anna Karenina.<br /><br /><br />Have you read "Pale Fire"? Such an entertaining puzzle-box! The SethTSnoreply@blogger.com