June 14, 2007
Christopher Plummer as Nabokov lecturing on Kafka
Via ghostman at Microscopically Fictitious:
Part 1:
Part 2:
Posted by S. Abbas Raza at 11:30 AM | Permalink
|
|
PayAnywhere with iphone credit card swiper 2013 New Style Dresses
3QD on Facebook
3QD on Kindle
3QD by Daily Email
3QD on Twitter
MiscellanyLijit Search
Recent Comments
Luke Lea on Race Is Not Biology
jo smith on REFLECTIONS ON WOOLWICH
Geoff on Jeremy Scahill & Noam Chomsky on Secret U.S. Dirty Wars From Yemen to Pakistan to Laos
Jim on Friday Poem
Jesse on REFLECTIONS ON WOOLWICH
Kenan Malik on REFLECTIONS ON WOOLWICH
Pierre on REFLECTIONS ON WOOLWICH
Dave Ranning on REFLECTIONS ON WOOLWICH
omar on REFLECTIONS ON WOOLWICH
Erich on REFLECTIONS ON WOOLWICH
Raza Husain on Race Is Not Biology
Raza Husain on Race Is Not Biology
Josef Stern on REFLECTIONS ON WOOLWICH
Colette on POETRY IN TRANSLATION: CORDOBA
Dana on A young Houston couple is planning to give away $4 billion—but only to projects that prove they are worth it. Can they redefine the world of philanthropy?
omar on REFLECTIONS ON WOOLWICH
Dredd on REFLECTIONS ON WOOLWICH
Acclaim For 3QD
"I couldn't tear myself
away from 3 Quarks Daily, to the point of neglecting my work. Congratulations on
this superb site."—Steven
Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University.
"I have placed 3 Quarks Daily at the head of my list of web bookmarks."—Richard
Dawkins, Charles Simonyi Professor of the Public Understanding of Science at Oxford University. "Just wanted you to know I’m one of many who reads and enjoys 3 Quarks....almost daily."—David Byrne, musician, former lead-singer of the Talking Heads, artist, intellectual. The 3QD Prizes
|
Comments
this seems to have derived from the earlier play put on in which the arguments between Edmund Wilson and Nabakov were dramatized by using their extensive correspondence. In he earliest productions of the play, Nabokov's son Dmitri play his father's part. Nabokov's lectureds are available in book form. Wilson, by contrast, a remarkable critic and writer was a terrible teacher in the classroom.
Posted by: fred lapides | Jun 14, 2007 12:26:17 PM
These are actually from a television special that aired in 1989, called either Nabokov on Kafka or Understanding the Metamorphosis, depending on whether you saw it on television or VHS.
Here's the IMDB link: http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0192347/
I never saw Nabokov teach, of course, but Christopher Plummer plays him pretty convincingly in my book, although since Nabokov taught his classes nearly verbatim from the notes that would later become his published lectures (or so the story goes), Plummer's spontaneity is probably more artistic flair than true interpretation. But then a Nabokov look-alike reading from a notebook wouldn't be nearly as entertaining, now would it?
Posted by: ghostman | Jun 14, 2007 4:04:39 PM
Pretty entertaining I admit. Did Nabakov sound like Peter Sellers? Sorry--but doesn't he kinda sound like Inspector Clouseau in this?
Posted by: maniza | Jun 15, 2007 1:16:08 PM
Here's audio of Nabokov himself, being interviewed by the BBC in 1969.
Posted by: ghostman | Jun 15, 2007 4:25:00 PM
Wow! That was entertaining. Thanks.
Posted by: Uncle $cam | Jul 4, 2007 1:34:16 PM
Fine piece. Plummer is still sharp as a knife. I hope that one and all will forgive me if I point out the one thing that disturbed me about this. it was THAT BRIEFCASE. (!!!) That was a mistake of the set dresser. All the same, its incongruity stood out so much I had to look away and listen only, which is a fine way to absorb text-heavy or text-exclusive performances.
Hats off to Mr. Plummer!
Posted by: V.N. | Jul 5, 2007 11:56:25 PM
Nabokov would only respond to written questions from interviewers, and then only with his own written responses. Mossman must have convinced him to read those answers aloud...I bet it's inthe Bryan Boyd book.
But super cool link! 'War and Peace, a little long.' LMAO!
Posted by: cgb | Jul 6, 2007 3:07:47 AM
Post a comment