‘A supine round bracket’
Vladimir Nabokov, interview with the New York Times, 1969:
How do you rank yourself among writers (living) and of
the immediate past?I often think there should exist a special typographical
sign for a smile–some sort of concave mark, a supine round
bracket, which I would now like to trace in reply to your
question.
: )
(Shared by a friend on Google Reader.)
I love the simple :)
It’s so adorable. Which is just amazing considering it’s just a colon and a right hand (round) bracket put together.
I can’t remember if Nabokov typed. He was famous for his use of handwritten index cards, which gets a kind of self-parody in Pale Fire. But his lament about the typographical limitations of the language/keyboard sounds like the lament of a typist. Hmm.
Results of some Googling: according to Steve Coates, “Nabokov never worked with a typewriter.” But some of his correspondence appears to be typed.
A couple of possibilities: 1) Nabokov had someone — his wife, probably, or a secretary — type letters for him. 2) N. could type, but never used a typewriter to compose his novels.
What’s the corresponding technical question for novelists today? “Did Colson Whitehead use Twitter?” (Yes.) “Did Nicholson Baker have a blog?” (No.) “What kind of phone did Zadie Smith have?” (I don’t know — but now I kind of want to!)
“Did Nabokov type” reminds me of a thief’s note that made the rounds earlier this year. It’s the only time I’ve seen an emoticon handwritten on its side as though typing. Could just be a Fargo, North Dakota, thing.