Fw: a little re-gurgitated Pynchon/Pale Fire

[Paul Mackin]

On Mon, 2003-07-14 at 22:46, D. Barton Johnson wrote:
> a little re-gurgitated  Pynchon/Pale Fire
> ----- Original Message ----- 
> From: Carolyn Kunin 
> To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum 
> Sent: Monday, July 14, 2003 6:16 PM
> Subject: a little re-gurgitated Pynchon/Pale Fire
> 
> 
> To the List,
> 
> I hadn't found the Pynchon very digestible (too much, too much!) but, thanks to David Morris, my attention was drawn to the fact that someone (besides me) has discovered at least some of the unpleasant facts about John Shade's sex life. In fact he, Keith Stadlen, has gone me one better -- make that two or three better. He recognized the sexuality in some of the lines of the Shade poem I had missed.  And I think he is right -- especially about the fishy-honey and the pre-Jurassic.
> 
> 
>   ***
>   Doesn't the imagery of the first two Cantos suggest Aunt Maud
>   forced Shade to quench her thirst with his pure tongue? Isn't the truth being hidden from him, not so much truth about survival after death, but the truth that his memory has dimmed regarding being forced to orally pleasure Aunt Maud? My favorite references are how his childish palate loved the taste/Half-fish, half-honey, of that golden paste (nature's glue, lines> 103-5), [... my elipsis ck]
> 
>                       Espied on a pine's bark.
>   As we were walking home the day she died,
>   An empty emerald case, squat and frog-eyed,
>   Hugging the trunk; and its companion piece,
>   A gum-logged ant. (235-40)
> 
>   Aunt Maud = a 'gum'-logged aunt.
> 
>   Ant = insect
>   Aunt = incest
>   ***
>   Then read 139-56 as Aunt Maud molesting him as he lay on his bed watching the clockwork toy:
> 
>   One foot on the mountaintop.
>   One hand under a panting strand.
>   dull throbs in my Triassic
>   icy shiver down my Age of Stone
> 
>   But like some little lad forced by a wench
>   With his pure tongue her abject thirst to quench,
>   I was corrupted, terrified, allured,
>   And though old doctor Colt pronounced me cured
>   Of what, he said, were mainly growing pains,
>   The wonder lingers and the shame remains.
>   ***
>   I'm beginning to wonder if the commentary isn't designed to reinterpret the 

poem to protect Shade from what he perhaps unwittingly reveals about himself

 and his activities in the poem. Is it possible that he was molested by 

Aunt Maud and then in turn molested Hazel, and that she either committed

suicide because of having been molested or was killed by Shade? Brian Boyd 


sees Shade as an embodiment of sanity and propriety, so I'm probably waxing 

loosely and prematurely, but what the hell.
> 
> 
> 
> Here I think Mr Stadlen is possibly right, but probably wrong. Still he is very right to wonder.  The insect pun will be played by VN in Ada, and aunt/ant is very good!
> 
> Carolyn
> 


Isn't Shade also an embodiment of excellent marital adjustment with Sybil? 
 
In other words, at least one of the conventional expectations for the
consequence of early childhood sexual activity with an adult family
member is not fulfilled. And good relations with Sybil would be likely
to obviate the need for Hazel's playing a substitute role.

Just thinking. No firm opinion on the matter..

P.

P.