i just realized suicide girls radio had a podcast. that makes it a good day.
i'm currently plowing my way through vra (mrs. vladimir nabokov), which is an amazing book. stacy schiff has really gone to great lengths to make vivid a person who spent most of her life attempting to be a shadow. vra, in a sense, hid behind her husband's talent--but she also propped him up, making sure that talent was utilized rather than wasted.
she saved lolita when vladimir threw the pages on the fire. she taught his classes at ivy league institutions when he was ill. she graded his papers so he could write, and everything he wrote she typed out for him.
i admire the strength of their marriage, a union that mimicks the lovers in ada, or ardor in a number of ways. her notes appear all over the margins of his writing, even his letters. she filled in the blanks for him in class whenever he forgot a quotation. the two of them lived in a an eden created by the other's proximity, and i have no doubt that it was vra's labors that built their pastoral paradise.
it's also making me want to reread ada, as well as read all the books i never got to: pnin; look at the harlequins!; invitation to a beheading; glory; king, queen, knave; strong opinions; speak, memory, etc., as well as the entire lecture series.
unfortunately classes start too soon for all that, and once i finish this book, i think i'll have just enough time to read rushdie's the ground beneath her feet before i have to start making my way through the second sex.
i'm currently plowing my way through vra (mrs. vladimir nabokov), which is an amazing book. stacy schiff has really gone to great lengths to make vivid a person who spent most of her life attempting to be a shadow. vra, in a sense, hid behind her husband's talent--but she also propped him up, making sure that talent was utilized rather than wasted.
she saved lolita when vladimir threw the pages on the fire. she taught his classes at ivy league institutions when he was ill. she graded his papers so he could write, and everything he wrote she typed out for him.
i admire the strength of their marriage, a union that mimicks the lovers in ada, or ardor in a number of ways. her notes appear all over the margins of his writing, even his letters. she filled in the blanks for him in class whenever he forgot a quotation. the two of them lived in a an eden created by the other's proximity, and i have no doubt that it was vra's labors that built their pastoral paradise.
it's also making me want to reread ada, as well as read all the books i never got to: pnin; look at the harlequins!; invitation to a beheading; glory; king, queen, knave; strong opinions; speak, memory, etc., as well as the entire lecture series.
unfortunately classes start too soon for all that, and once i finish this book, i think i'll have just enough time to read rushdie's the ground beneath her feet before i have to start making my way through the second sex.