Vladimir Nabokov spent twenty years translating “the first and fundamental Russian novel,” Aleksandr Pushkin’s Eugene Onegin. His battle with the text sparked an intellectual debate with his former friend, Edmund Wilson. The Paris Review has his notes. Pair with our own Lydia Kiesling’s thoughts on Lolita.
Nabokov’s Notes
Literary Friendships
Emily Smith writes on literary friendships throughout history at Ploughshares.
●
●
Literary Libya
Those following this weekend’s events in Tripoli will no doubt be interested in Banipal‘s issue dedicated to Libyan fiction. And, as Moammar Gaddafi‘s reign appears to be ending, the Guardian‘s evisceration of his short stories is worth a read. On NPR‘s site, Hisham Matar also explains the influence of Gaddafi’s rule on Libyan writing.
●
●
What a Crack-Up
Did F. Scott Fitzgerald’s “Crack-Up” essays — in which the author began to chronicle his mental collapse — usher in and anticipate the rise of autobiographical writing in America?
●
●
A Good Deaf Man Is Hard to Find
Sara Nović writes for The Believer about the deaf protagonist of Stephen King’s The Stand. As she explains it, “This is the plight of the average deaf character: to be plagued by the hearing author’s own discomfort with the idea of silence.” Pair with Lydia Kiesling’s Millions essay on King.
●
●
That Rare Outlaw
Recommended Reading: Michiko Kakutani on a new biography of Johnny Cash.
Appearing Elsewhere
Congratulations to Millions contributor Edan Lepucki who received the 2009 James D. Phelan Award for her novel manuscript, Days of Insignificance and Evil. The award is given by the Intersection for the Arts and sponsored by the San Francisco Foundation. She’ll be reading, along with Page McBee and Youmna Chlala, at the Intersection for the Arts in San Francisco on Monday, November 16th at 7:30.
●
●