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Appendix 3 1968 Nabokov in Szeftel's Diaries Szeftel's numerous diaries belong mostly to the Seattle period of his life, although there is one notebook containing entries that cover the period from 1952 to 1960. It is not clear whether Szeftel kept other diaries through the 1940S and 1950S. If he did, he probably destroyed them, for they .are not among his papers at the archive, and Kitty Szeftel has no other materials ofthis nature in her possession. It is quite likely that Szeftel's diary-writing intensified greatly upon his arrival in Seattle, since he felt even more lonely and isolated than he had at Cornell. The most detailed and exhaustive diaries, which contain virtually daily notes, belong to the period of 1968 to 1980. By then Szeftel had developed a rule of at least "100 words ... every day.'" Most ofhis entries are in English or Russian, but occasional entries are in French or Polish. Szeftel tends to use Russian as his "personal" language to reminisce about his past and his childhood or to describe his emotions, feelings, and everyday events. "Russian," he wrote in 1969, "is my first language, as well as the language of my parents, and when I discuss intimate subjects, it is easier for me to do so in Russian."2 His usage is not totally consistent, though, and some of the more intimate subjects, such as his feelings about his family or approaching old age, are also discussed in English. Toward the end of his life, however, Russian begins to predominate as the general language for all his entries. The entries about Nabokov occur in both languages. The emphases throughout are Szeftel's. There are many more entries on Nabokov than given here, but they tend to be repetitive. I have also tried to limit this appendix to entries of general interest that have not been discussed or quoted in the main text. Some names have been replaced by initials, while others have been spelled out when only initialized in Szeftel's text. January 8, in English Conversation with [YuriJ Ivask a few days ago on Russian literature. Adamovich's appraisal of Nabokov as a greatly talented "clown."3 Still, he 120 APPENDIX 3. NABOKOV IN SZEFTEL'S DIARIES 121 considers Nabokov as the most outstanding writer ofthe Russian emigration (the most outstanding poet is Boris Poplavsky who died in 1936).4 Boris Poplavsky was a "poete maudit"; the early death was the result of his way of life (drugs). Both Vera & Vladimir Nabokov told to Ivask: My byli k Poplavskomu nespravedlivy [We were unfair to Poplavsky]. The name of P. brought back Marina Tsvetaeva's excited complaint about his rudeness (this was told in Antwerp, privately organized lecture by M[arina] T[svetaeva], 1932?). She talked with admiration about Nicholas II's charm & then told that P. reacted to one ofher remarks about Nicholas['s] death: Nu, khorosho, chto ubili [So? It's a good thing that they killed him!].5 January 20, in English Friday afternoon, two guests at a coffee-hour, organized by Ivask: [Igor] Chinnov, a historian ofRussian literature (in Paris from 1947 to 1953; now teacher at Kansas), and [S.], a Polish poet from London. Chinnovon [Ivan] Bunin's Vospominaniia [Memoirs]: grossly unfair, svodil schety [took revenge]; I have mentioned another example of unfair criticism: Nabokov on Tolstoi: Vera & Vladimir pointed out to me, years ago at Cornell, that it is strange to see no mention of literature in "War & Peace"; "is it possible that Pierre did not read Pushkin?" But "War & Peace" ends in 1812, while P. did not come to public attention before 1818! Other example concerning "Anna Karenina": N.'s remark ... on Vronsky's playing tennis immediately after returning from skachki [races] (or okhota [hunting]) priamo v shporakh v tennis igrat! [to play tennis without taking off your spurs!] Did Tolstoi have to mention that Vronsky tidied himself up in a bathroom, and may be even took off the shpory [ spurs]? Anyway, I said, for N. Russian literature counts only 5 or may be 6 great writers (one of them N. himself, naturally). And (I will add here) the world literature has for N. 20 or at most 25 acceptable names: I hope that my estimate is not overly optimistic. A question may be raised. Reading Tolstoy's diary and correspondence, and that of Flaubert, one is struck at the amount of suffering their writing involved.... Is there any suffering in Nabokov's creativeness? Is the butterfly only...

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