Description
Trade Review"Signs or symbols, satire or realism, closure or no closure, soluble or insoluble riddle? Responding to the challenge presented by this enigmatic short story, aware that Nabokov did not believe in what he called ‘the symbolism racket', the contributors to this excellent collection of articles have mobilized a wide spectrum of hermeneutics. Convinced, with John V. Hagopian, that ‘no legitimate artist produces randomness', they gamely attempted to quiz the author's elusive figure, developing a brand of creative paranoia, yet never claiming, except in one case (Dolinin), to play the part of the oracle. The result is a challenging exercise of ‘Practical Criticism' which touches upon the bone and structure of Nabokov's work." -- Maurice Couturier, Professor Emeritus, University of Nice, France, writer and translator, editor-in-chief of the Pléiade edtion of Nabokov's novels.
The critical anthology is called “Anatomy of a Short Story” not accidentally. What we have here is not a marauding or exhuming of a senseless body, but a study of a living artistic organism. Collective dissection presupposes using various methods, diversified optics and descriptive procedures… Yuri Leving’s own array of scholarly interests turns “Anatomy” from a potentially dull registrar’s compendium into a collection of peculiar and often unexpected utterances about Nabokov’s text… This book will prove handy to anyone interested both in Nabokov as well as in studying literary texts in general. -- Mikhail Efimov * LiteraruS - Literaturnoe Slovo *
Leving’s collection is a huge achievement, and its scope is impressive, with thirty articles in total, mostly previously published, spanning over thirty years of scholarship. This is the book’s foremost triumph and as such positions itself alongside the
Garland Companion to Vladimir Nabokov, is a must for anyone interested in Nabokov’s story and, more generally, the historical progression of Nabokov studies. * Matthew Apperley, UCL SSEES, The Slavonic and East European Review (Vol. 92, No. 2, April 2014) *
Following the success of his
Keys to the Gift: A Guide to Vladimir Nabokov’s Novel (Boston, MA, 2011) Leving’s latest foray into Nabokov studies comes at a crucial moment in the field. Little has been published on Nabokov in recent years that matches the powerhouse of scholarship of the past; maybe the time is right to address where we are with Nabokov and, potentially, where we are going. In this regard Leving’s collection is a huge achievement, and its scope is impressive, with thirty articles in total, mostly previously published, spanning over thirty years of scholarship. This is the book’s foremost triumph and as such positions itself alongside the
Garland Companion to Vladimir Nabokov (New York, 1995), is a must for anyone interested in Nabokov’s story and, more generally, the historical progression of Nabokov studies. -- Matthew Apperley, UCL SSEES, UK * Slavonic & East European Review *
Table of ContentsContributors; Acknowledgments; INTRODUCTION; Breaking the Code: Nabokov and the Art of Short Fiction - Yuri Leving; A PRIMARY TEXT:; Heart; "Signs and Symbols" Vladimir Nabokov; FORUM: High pressure; Psychosis, Performance, Schizophrenia, Literature Hal Ackerman, Murray Biggs, John Crossley, Wayne Goodman, Yuri Leving, and Frederick White; CRITICISM; PART ONE: Bone Structure; Frameworks; Vladimir Nabokov's Correspondence with The New Yorker regarding "Signs and Symbols," 1946-1948 Olga Voronina; Lost in Revision: The Editing of "Signs and Symbols" for The New Yorker John Morris; Consulting the Oracle Michael Wood; PART TWO: Vascular System; Signs; Arbitrary Signs and Symbols Alexander N. Drescher; The Patterns of Doom Brian Quinn; Ways of Knowing in "Signs and Symbols"Terry J. Martin; A Funny Thing about "Signs and Symbols" John B. Lane; Names Yuri Leving; PART THREE: Muscles of the Story; Objects; Five Known Jars Carol M. Dole; Five Missing Jars Gennady Barabtarlo; The Last Jar Joanna Trzeciak; Trees and Birds Larry R. Andrews; Photographs Maria-Ruxanda Bontila; Cards Pekka Tammi; Telephone Andres Romero Jodar; PART FOUR: Nervous system; The Importance of Reader Response Paul J. Rosenzweig; The Jewish Quest Yuri Leving; Symbols; Signs of Reference, Symbols of Design Geoffrey Green; Sacred Dangers: Nabokov's Distorted Reflection David Field; Numbers; The Mysticism of Circle Mary Tookey; The Semiotics of Zero Meghan Vicks; PART FIVE: Dissection; Web of Contexts; "Signs and Symbols" in and out of Contexts Leona Toker; "Breaking the News" and "Signs and Symbols": Silentology Joanna Trzeciak; Pnin and "Signs and Symbols": Narrative Entrapment David H. Richter; Pnin and "Signs and Symbols": Narrative Strategies William Carroll; Pale Fire and "Signs and Symbols" Vladimir Mylnikov; PART SIX: DNA Testing; Cracking the Code; The Signs and Symbols in Nabokov's "Signs and Symbols" Alexander Dolinin; The Castling Problem in "Signs and Symbols" Yuri Leving; Reading Madly - Irving Malin; Deciphering "Signs and Symbols"Larry R. Andrews; Decoding "Signs and Symbols" John V. Hagopian; The Referential Mania: An Attempt of the Deconstructivist Reading Alvaro Garrido Moreno; A Referential Reading of Nabokov's "Signs and Symbols" Charles W. Mignon; An Afterword John Banville; Alternative Tables of Contents; Chronological Key; Alphabetical Key; Credits; Bibliography; Index.
