16 December 2005

Nabokov Rock!


First of all you accent the 2nd syllable of both his names ~ vlah-DEE-mir nah-BOA-kov ~ Vladimir Nabokov. Yeah, and the delightfully high holy name Lolita should be said like he says it should be said: ** One of the most limpid and luminous letters is "L". The suffix "-ita" has a lot of Latin tenderness, and this I required too. Hence: Lolita. 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. ** Lolita ... Lolita ... I've been reading Lolita. Nabokov's foreword begins with that word, then it opens the first sentence & paragraph, and finally the whole darn kickass thing ends triumphantly with her name again. This book is pretty so pretty!

1 comment:

THE 13TH EARL OF BENLU said...

Blue moon of Kentucky
Keep on shinin'
Shine on the one
That's gone and left me blue

It was on a moonlit night
The stars shinin' bright
We watched a strange dvd
Of some kind of animated
Characters

Hee Haw or should I say vigofca