We will read Nabokov's 1939 novella very closely - covering these passages (indicated by a page number, quote which begins the passage, a topic, or a summary). For your two posts, you can comment on these passages - writing whatever strikes you. In many cases the quote is only a way of marking a longer passage.
p. 21: analogies for lechery
p. 22: island, criminality
p. 23: degrees, transitions
p. 24: narrator's presence
p. 25: intermediaries; moments
p. 26: present moment: "the curtain rises"
p. 27: description of girl: distance between narrator and character
"among the rest of us"
p. 29: "the subordinate clause of his fearsome life"
p. 31: "concupiscence or anguish
p. 32: point of view: a conversation began
p. 33: "you lost the hands of your watch"
anatomical descriptions: "as if this girl were growing out of him" - physical connection
p. 34: garrulous person: exposition
p. 35: the ruse of buying furniture
p. 36: "stern woman's kindness was not like milk chocolate" - point of view
p. 38: "that's life" - widow's resigned attitude
"like a chess player"
39: marrons glaces - "not like one of your putrid oldsters"
40: "referring to the variants..."
41: objectively: passionless widow
p. 42: "true hiding place of genuine, blinding opportunity"
p. 43: "in search of something that might even now entitle her to masculine attention"
"sorry and repelled"
44: "yearnings of a bachelor.." plausible? his proposal
45: "discuss things rationally" - rational world of contrivances and pragmatic needs vs. enchantment vs. delusion
46: the unattractive proposition: comic situation
48: "drag this cumbersome behemoth"
the cafe
"he would have fondled her"
49: "a misprint of desire distorted the meaning of love"
"Yes - the forgery, the furtiveness..."
ambiguity about his feelings
p. 50: "the foretaste of finding the girl alone"
sounds: emphasis on sensory experience de-emphasizes his thoughts and intentions
p. 51 "closer and closer..."
"the red one" - Nabokovian colors
52: "aching, frustrated, gnawing, weakness in his calves" --?
mooing to simulate tenderness
52-53: argument about sending her off to school (scene from Lolita); "choose between me and her"
54: "The first infraction of that habit"
55: "multiple caverns" - geological description
"at moments of elation he was subject to sundry, angular aches"
56: "roaming amid the shivery indulgence"
"instability and spectrality of his calculations"
56-57: indecision
"sober line of reasoning"
reason / emotion / guilt
criminal thoughts: "a prisoner leaves his cigarette ash"
58: "impeccably packaged vials" (more anatomical language)
59: her organ like a grouchy dog
he was attentive - more mooing
60: marriage a trap: "she would let him out of her sight no farther than to the corner room"
61: "regularity of the fluctuations" - cycles?
"ripple of unsatisfied desire"
"he would walk past pretty girls..."
63: illness worse in spring - cycles
swears that he will treat the girl as a father - comic juxtaposition
64: operation a success: his rage
his uglier side shows at select moments
65: thinks of her body (again)...
"normal paternal zeal" - comic juxtaposition between normal and deviant
66: "the person was no more"
67: preliminary, grayly human content"
"clever Fate" - strong relationship to fate
68: "feigning total shock" - always feigning
69: "And what a pretty girl she is!"
70 counterfeit coin
71: "day-after-tomorrow's address..."
"he found it unnecessary to predetermine subsequent habitations"
72: marital - Edenic scenario
premeditation & chance: the elements of fictional plots?
72-73: counting on her prepubescence and lack of knowledge: "He was convinced that..."
73: "the flowering chasm"
74: "he would find sufficient delights in her so as to not disenchant her prematurely"
"not attempt on her virginity"
76: "Just then she came out..." - aging already?
77: "Oh no!..." This is nearly the first time she speaks.
78: "If it hadn't been for our encounter" - theme of luck & design
80: "And now all this is mine..." (geographical)
"the deserted nightmare street..." (geography=fate)
81: double bed (scene from Lolita)
"obedient pose of the tender victim"
82: "My sweetheart, my poor girl..." - what is his point of view here?
83: the precursor: "a fleeting memory..."
84: bizarre encounter with the police (reminiscent of Bend Sinister)
85: "he felt a horrid pang..."
86: "somebody in here trying to train a young person" - reality? a double?
87: "She was lying supine..." first approach
88: "The hour had finally come..." Theme of frozen time:
"A priceless original..." (cf. Lolita as restored childhood lover)
89: "Finally making up his mind..." - molestation scene
90: "flashes of consciousness" in bed with her
92: Sex scene - shrieking
94-95: the end
No comments:
Post a Comment