![It may be that I was some sort of tinker in a past life, but I just love discovering a new use for something. Even more so, I love finding out some secret purpose or passion hiding in something or someone all along.
For example, I didn’t find out until recently that Vladimir Nabokov, famed author of Lolita and some of the best short stories ever written, was also a Research Fellow in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard as an avid lepidopterist- one with a love and extensive knowledge about butterflies. In fact, he discovered two subspecies of butterflies.This September 14, 1959 article from Sports Illustrated magazine (from which the above photo was taken) is a must-read for a delightful take on one of Nabokov’s butterfly missions- especially the bit about his childhood butterfly catching exploits involving inadvertedly signalling an English warship.
In Nabokov’s own words, quoted in the article: “’[lepidoptery], to me,’ Nabokov explains, ‘is most pleasurable—to collect on mountain tops or bogs. It is nostalgic perhaps, but there is also the pleasant feeling of being familiar with a place and surprised when you get more than you expect. You can get as close as possible to these living creatures and see reflected in them a higher law. Mimicry and evolution are for me more and more fascinating…. I cannot separate the aesthetic pleasure of seeing a butterfly and the scientific pleasure of knowing what it is.’”
Nabokov is so inspiring to me because he is inseperably a seeker of beauty and a skilled practioner of form, science and theory. He could speak multiple languages, make significant additions to the world of etymology, and write complex stories that operated on both a narrative, symbolic and a technical level (seriously, read “The Vane Sisters” and note the final paragraph- when I figured it out, it gave me chills) but through it all he was a man chasing the beauty and “higher law” discovered in a small insect.
That his literary success was possible because he was able to find a university placement that allowed him lots of time to pursue his passion of chasing butterflies every summer- Nabokov wrote Lolita while traveling on butterfly-collection trips in the western United States- is a challenge to others to live well. He created many amazing things while pursing what he loved, and mixing his thoughts with his passion in nature, he captured an incredible bounty out of his own mind.
There is also a violence to his passion, as the article depicts his best way to kill a butterfly for preservation, and of a time he ate butterflies raw. This is also present in his work. Yet even so, the metaphor of artistic discovery that Nabokov embodies for me is still fitting— there must also be a sort of violence to art itself, as freezing an idea in place is to pin down that edging towards a higher law that comes with inspiration.
Nabokov was also a synethete, someone who experiences one form of sensation as another. In his case, he associated letters with inherent colours, and that just makes this color-word enthusiast love him even more. I, too am most happy when I get “the pleasant feeling of being familiar with a place and surprised when you get more than you expect.”
Profound, or merely exciting, there is something special about the thrill of discovering something new that you never expected. I hope we can provide that in the summery great outdoors at the PARKSALE… and maybe even some butterflies too.](http://25.media.tumblr.com/q0QmdQjLjoup5sr6u5yZYbIKo1_500.jpg)
It may be that I was some sort of tinker in a past life, but I just love discovering a new use for something. Even more so, I love finding out some secret purpose or passion hiding in something or someone all along.
For example, I didn’t find out until recently that Vladimir Nabokov, famed author of Lolita and some of the best short stories ever written, was also a Research Fellow in the Museum of Comparative Zoology at Harvard as an avid lepidopterist- one with a love and extensive knowledge about butterflies. In fact, he discovered two subspecies of butterflies.This September 14, 1959 article from Sports Illustrated magazine (from which the above photo was taken) is a must-read for a delightful take on one of Nabokov’s butterfly missions- especially the bit about his childhood butterfly catching exploits involving inadvertedly signalling an English warship.
In Nabokov’s own words, quoted in the article: “’[lepidoptery], to me,’ Nabokov explains, ‘is most pleasurable—to collect on mountain tops or bogs. It is nostalgic perhaps, but there is also the pleasant feeling of being familiar with a place and surprised when you get more than you expect. You can get as close as possible to these living creatures and see reflected in them a higher law. Mimicry and evolution are for me more and more fascinating…. I cannot separate the aesthetic pleasure of seeing a butterfly and the scientific pleasure of knowing what it is.’”
Nabokov is so inspiring to me because he is inseperably a seeker of beauty and a skilled practioner of form, science and theory. He could speak multiple languages, make significant additions to the world of etymology, and write complex stories that operated on both a narrative, symbolic and a technical level (seriously, read “The Vane Sisters” and note the final paragraph- when I figured it out, it gave me chills) but through it all he was a man chasing the beauty and “higher law” discovered in a small insect.
That his literary success was possible because he was able to find a university placement that allowed him lots of time to pursue his passion of chasing butterflies every summer- Nabokov wrote Lolita while traveling on butterfly-collection trips in the western United States- is a challenge to others to live well. He created many amazing things while pursing what he loved, and mixing his thoughts with his passion in nature, he captured an incredible bounty out of his own mind.
There is also a violence to his passion, as the article depicts his best way to kill a butterfly for preservation, and of a time he ate butterflies raw. This is also present in his work. Yet even so, the metaphor of artistic discovery that Nabokov embodies for me is still fitting— there must also be a sort of violence to art itself, as freezing an idea in place is to pin down that edging towards a higher law that comes with inspiration.
Nabokov was also a synethete, someone who experiences one form of sensation as another. In his case, he associated letters with inherent colours, and that just makes this color-word enthusiast love him even more. I, too am most happy when I get “the pleasant feeling of being familiar with a place and surprised when you get more than you expect.”
Profound, or merely exciting, there is something special about the thrill of discovering something new that you never expected. I hope we can provide that in the summery great outdoors at the PARKSALE… and maybe even some butterflies too.
