Torpid Smoke: The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov by Steven G. s> Kellman Irving Malin (review)

Abstract

726 SEER, 8o, 4, 2002 remainwith him forever tantalizinglynearandyet so farfromhis exquisite enigma. Department ofRussian Studies GORDON MCVAY University ofBristol Kellman, Steven G. and Malin, Irving(eds). Torpid Smoke. TheStories of Vladimir Nabokov. Studies in Slavic Literatureand Poetics, 35. Editions Rodopi, Amsterdam and Atlanta, GA, 2000. 243 pp. Notes. $38.oo (paperback). VLADIMIR NABOKOV'S short stories are by now anything but terraincognita. Steven G. Kellman's and Irving Malin's Torpid Smoke:7The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov follows the publication of three volumes which concentrate entirely on this area of Nabokov's work:Marina TurkevichNaumann's BlueEvenings in Berlin.Nabokov's ShortStories of theI920S (New York, I978), A SmallAlpine Form.Studies inNabokov's ShortFiction,edited by Charles Nicol and Gennady Barabtarlo(New York, I993) and Maxim D. Shrayer's TheWorld ofNabokov's Stories (Austin,TX, I999). In addition it has been estimated that there are at least fifty articles on this subject. It is, however, the originality in approach and the attention to hitherto neglected short storiesthat make this collection of essaysworthwhile reading not only for the Nabokov specialistbut also for the studentof shortprose in general. Barbara Wyllie's study on the relationship between dream, memory and the Otherworld in Nabokov's stories opens this compilation of articles. Her insightfulreading of classicslike 'Torpid Smoke' and 'Spring in Fialta'leads to a wider discussion of Nabokov's and his characters'attempts to resist the linear passage of time. Equally engaging is Julian W. Connolly's survey of Nabokov's developing approach towards the supernaturalfrom sometimes even crude appearances of mythological figures in the early stories to a far more subtle and meaningful handling of the occult in his later works. These otherworldly phenomena in Nabokov's work are also traced by R. H. W. Dillard who compares Nabokov's two Christmas stories and defines the unexpected miraculousgiftsofferedto the main characterson ChristmasEve as the centralthemes of both stories. Christian Moraru's analysis of 'The Assistant Producer' is without doubt one of the finestpieces in this collection. His sharpobservationsof Nabokov's method of blurring the borders between reality and fiction by employing cinematic techniquesis an excellent piece of scholarlyworkwhich contributes new material to the discussion of Nabokov as a modernist or post-modernist writer.The instabilityof realityisalsothefocusof Victor Strandberg'sanalysis of 'That in Aleppo Once'. Placing it in the context of Shakespeare's Othello and William James' philosophy, Strandberg shows this short story to be a typical Nabokovian work in its insistence on the importance of individual perception. In similar vain, Steven G. Kellman's essay concentrates on the supremacyof perception over 'reality'in 'Breakingthe News'. Kellman links the story's principal theme of informing somebody about the death of a beloved one not only to 'Signs and Symbols' but also to a literarytradition from classicaltragedyto Kafka. REVIEWS 727 Shrayer's reading of 'Vasiliy Shishkov' as a primarily autobiographical piece challenges poststructuralistviews of the separation of author and text. Almost identical to a chapter from his TheWorld ofNabokov's Stories, Shrayer's investigation into the intricateliteraryhoax Nabokov played on Adamovich shows the close link between the real author of the story and the fictional writerof its relatedpoems.J. E. Rivers'smeticulouslyresearchedcomparison of the differentversionsof 'Mademoiselle 0.' also tracesan autobiographical feature in Nabokov's work, the fictionalization of his governess Cecile Miauton. While concentrating on Nabokov's use of the idiosyncrasiesof the French language in the first textual variant, Rivers also illustrates the increasinglynegative depiction of the 'Mademoiselle'characterin Nabokov's widerwork. LindaWagner-Martin'sfeministstudyof sexualharassmentin academia in 'The Vane Sisters'and herinterpretationof the relationshipbetween theVane sisters and their chauvinistic professors is highly original and interesting. Wagner-Martin'sconclusion, however, that 'Nabokovmighthave realizedhis essential goodness, which might translate within the academe as femininity when his creative genius seemed to be besieged by the highly rational intellectualismof his universitycolleagues' (p. 242) is not only unconvincing but seems also slightly at odds with Nabokov's pride at being a rational scientist and his notorious lack of interest in social issues. Similarly, Brian Walterfinds a certain political concern in Nabokov's work and departsfrom previous mainly narratological interpretations in prescribing a didactic function to 'A Forgotten Poet'. In his opinion, Nabokov used this story to enlighten...