Signs and Symbols - Vladimir Nabokov

"of beautiful weeds that cannot hide from the farmer"
The image is a detail from Bruegel's "The Triumph of Death." The mother seems to slightly misremember it.
You can read it here: www.newyorker.com/magazine/19...
For whatever reason, The New Yorker decided to reverse the title when they published it.

Пікірлер: 32

  • @AVTR
    @AVTR6 жыл бұрын

    I have no idea what I just listened to... still enjoyed it.

  • @TheeLandstander

    @TheeLandstander

    6 жыл бұрын

    I find bewildered enjoyment is often the best kind.

  • @luisaapostol2414
    @luisaapostol2414 Жыл бұрын

    Nobokov seems to evoke states of mind, feelings that become more important than the sum total of the actions rendered.

  • @leafyconcern
    @leafyconcern Жыл бұрын

    Read this story recently! Cemented my admiration for Nabokov. Currently am reading King Queen Knave. Will let y’all know how that goes.

  • @harrietpotter649
    @harrietpotter649 Жыл бұрын

    Thank you for making this.

  • @Mi-yc3oy
    @Mi-yc3oy3 жыл бұрын

    Very interesting. Thank you! 🥃

  • @user-jt7og3yj5l
    @user-jt7og3yj5l6 жыл бұрын

    Vladimir Nabokov the Great.!!

  • @kumaridesilva
    @kumaridesilva2 жыл бұрын

    I think we are meant to take all the many details provided to try to make sense of the story in the same way the son imagines everything in his world is a sign or symbol to him

  • @geordiejones5618

    @geordiejones5618

    10 ай бұрын

    Yeah I read it as a meta story. Vladimir being playful with the reader and all who overanalyze art. It had very honest pathos but there are academic types who would read this 100 times trying to justify every detail when it very well could be purposefully obscure/random. The first time I read this I thought that the son was dead and this was their way of coping. As if they'd showed up quite a few times wondering how their son was doing and the nurse who they disliked kept giving them an excuse that would turn them away. Something of a dance of dishonesty. And maybe this is right before they face the truth that he's gone.

  • @kumaridesilva3992

    @kumaridesilva3992

    10 ай бұрын

    @@geordiejones5618 Personally, I didn't think the son was actually dead but I think they feared he was dead and thus their hesitation at picking up the phone, but then the call becomes another metaphor for not being able to get through to someone. . . The story at times seems heart achingly sad, but ultimately I believe this couple has found meaning for their lives through their unconditional love for their son

  • @geordiejones5618

    @geordiejones5618

    10 ай бұрын

    ​@@kumaridesilva3992yeah I really enjoy the equal part hope and dread Nabokov is able to convey. Like I said I view it more as a meta text after multiple reads/listens, the details really do feel like they're supposed to mirror what the son is supposed to be feeling, but the pathos is very raw and honest which makes it feel impactful even if it's supposed to be cheeky toward any reader who wants to extract more than that.

  • @jayashreechakravarthy4949
    @jayashreechakravarthy49498 ай бұрын

    If there’s audio manipulation, stop it, now.

  • @bmoney6482
    @bmoney64826 жыл бұрын

    Forever first.

  • @TheeLandstander

    @TheeLandstander

    6 жыл бұрын

    First in comments, first in the hearts of his countrymen.

  • @donley-io9hp

    @donley-io9hp

    6 жыл бұрын

    This guy's Russian. This guy's a bot. Nabokov fled bots like this guy.

  • @TheeLandstander

    @TheeLandstander

    6 жыл бұрын

    Sources telling me Putin altering American minds through coded messages in KZread narrations. I am attempting to infiltrate these circles and expose them.

  • @patrickashurst4535
    @patrickashurst4535Ай бұрын

    6:52 it is produced vitl

  • @jayashreechakravarthy4949
    @jayashreechakravarthy49498 ай бұрын

    No light on me.

  • @sanamir9886
    @sanamir98869 ай бұрын

    Is this the complete story?

  • @OmarMJaber
    @OmarMJaber3 жыл бұрын

    How it is ended i couldn’t get it ?

  • @cappilay3096

    @cappilay3096

    3 жыл бұрын

    The implication of the last late night phone call is that the staff of the sanitarium have called to tell them that their son has committed suicide before they have the chance to bring him home.

  • @TheMightyPika

    @TheMightyPika

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@cappilay3096 thank you - i didn't understand it either.

  • @sabe607

    @sabe607

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@cappilay3096 this is debated

  • @hillaryclinton1232
    @hillaryclinton12322 жыл бұрын

    This mental illness is termed Ideas of Reference in America, ot at least it WAS last time I checked, my Psychiatry Text Book is from 1974 Interpretation of Schizophrenia, by Silvano Arieti

  • @africanelectron751
    @africanelectron7513 жыл бұрын

    Yea...this stuff read with that voice could convince you to be schizophrenic.

  • @TheeLandstander

    @TheeLandstander

    3 жыл бұрын

    Not sure if this is an insult or a compliment but I like it nonetheless. Thanks.

  • @africanelectron751

    @africanelectron751

    3 жыл бұрын

    @@TheeLandstander compliment , you spooky voiced bro!

  • @poopypoop5799

    @poopypoop5799

    2 жыл бұрын

    @@africanelectron751 Nabocov's work is spooky yes. But the narrator's voice is endearing. His English is consistent, and his tone echos the feeling almost exactly.

  • @user-fm1zy4yr1h
    @user-fm1zy4yr1h4 ай бұрын

    Paranoid Schizophrenia This mental illness is termed Ideas of Reference in America, or ths at least it WAS last time I checked, my Psychiatry Text Book is from 1974 Interpretation of Schizophrenia, by Silvano Arieti

  • @timmy18135
    @timmy181352 жыл бұрын

    7:51