Бог - i shall rob again
mercredi 30 juillet 2008
vendredi 6 juin 2008
Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronical, Vladmir Nabokov
The romance of time and incest.
Vladmir Nabokov's Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronical an erotic epic set in Antiterra a place like no where on earth. An aristocratic utopia that Nabokov uses as a device to demonstrate his mastery of language, and what mastery that is. Orginally written in english with a mixture of French and Russian which the family often use to communicate, Nabokov takes us on a journey through the lives of Van and his wife and sister Ada, chronicalling their very first meeting to their present, aged 90 and in the process of writing a book.
In this family chronical, Van and Ada's love is completely unquestionable and acceptable. We are not disgusted by their love, in fact more aroused. It is not that incest is a turn on because they never knew they were brother and sister. He just sucks us into this ideal utopia where love conquers all, but at a price. We see the madness of Ada and Van's love, how selfish and unconscious it makes them to other characters in the book, which of course eventually leads to suicide and deciet to add to the drama. The characters themselves are not particually appealing or heroic, but it is the idea of their carefree love and it's consequences that takes over the novel and the characters, which makes us empathise. We see history repeating itself, and Nabokov dedicates a whole chapter to trying to understand time. This goes on a slight tangent but perhaps, it shows our inability to understand the concept of time as he tries to comprehend it's relation to our sense of being in the world. And so as the book comes to an end, so do the lives of Ada and Van, we see them die into the book, into Eden and Hades. And we wander round lost realising that such utopia will only exist on paper.
The romance of time and incest.
Vladmir Nabokov's Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronical an erotic epic set in Antiterra a place like no where on earth. An aristocratic utopia that Nabokov uses as a device to demonstrate his mastery of language, and what mastery that is. Orginally written in english with a mixture of French and Russian which the family often use to communicate, Nabokov takes us on a journey through the lives of Van and his wife and sister Ada, chronicalling their very first meeting to their present, aged 90 and in the process of writing a book.
In this family chronical, Van and Ada's love is completely unquestionable and acceptable. We are not disgusted by their love, in fact more aroused. It is not that incest is a turn on because they never knew they were brother and sister. He just sucks us into this ideal utopia where love conquers all, but at a price. We see the madness of Ada and Van's love, how selfish and unconscious it makes them to other characters in the book, which of course eventually leads to suicide and deciet to add to the drama. The characters themselves are not particually appealing or heroic, but it is the idea of their carefree love and it's consequences that takes over the novel and the characters, which makes us empathise. We see history repeating itself, and Nabokov dedicates a whole chapter to trying to understand time. This goes on a slight tangent but perhaps, it shows our inability to understand the concept of time as he tries to comprehend it's relation to our sense of being in the world. And so as the book comes to an end, so do the lives of Ada and Van, we see them die into the book, into Eden and Hades. And we wander round lost realising that such utopia will only exist on paper.
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