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Vladimir Nabokov: Lolita

steffee said:
Yes, so he is forgiven, generally, as a soul encompassing many past and future persons, as well as HH, but not forgiven in this lifetime, as HH, and for what he has done to Lolita (and others!) here and now. If one doesn't believe in some sort of afterlife, you're kinda stuffed then... Transparent Things may just become my next Nabokov choice then... Ada (or Ardor) will have to wait.

Off to Amazon. :D
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Wait, wait! Stop, stop! Steffee
I see my impression of Transparent Things was wrong, now that I have scanned the amazon reviews. It seems to be more about memory than arfterlife. But seems nevertheless to be a good read. Hope you read the reviews before clicking the button. For VN's views on after life, I'm stuck at the moment for a good source.
Peder
 
pontalba =
In no way did I mean to imply that his neck wasn't on the line. Forgiveness does not mean no punishment. He did the crime, and needed to do the time.
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But Nabokov didn't make anybody "do the time". Everybody just up and died! Everybody. And pretty quickly, too (always assuming that Dolly didn't linger for days.) That was interesting.
 
StillILearn said:
pontalba =

But Nabokov didn't make anybody "do the time". Everybody just up and died! Everybody. And pretty quickly, too (always assuming that Dolly didn't linger for days.) That was interesting.
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StillILearn,
You got that right!
Even minor characters, too.
When he decided to wrap up story lines in Lolita he sure did wrap them up!
No sequels there! :eek:
Peder
 
Peder said:
Wait, wait! Stop, stop! Steffee
I see my impression of Transparent Things was wrong, now that I have scanned the amazon reviews. It seems to be more about memory than arfterlife. But seems nevertheless to be a good read. Hope you read the reviews before clicking the button. For VN's views on after life, I'm stuck at the moment for a good source.
Peder
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Oh yes, I'm still looking at reviews...

I found this interview, I don't know if the interview is real or not, or if it's included in Speak Memory...

Which of your writings has pleased you most?

I would say that of all my books Lolita has left me
with the most pleasurable afterglow-- perhaps because it is the
purest of all, the most abstract and carefully contrived. I am
probably responsible for the odd fact that people don't seem to
name their daughters Lolita any more. I have heard of young
female poodles being given that name since 1956, but of no
human beings. Well-wishers have tried to translate
Lolita into Russian, but with such execrable results
that I'm now doing a translation myself. The word "jeans," for
example, is translated in Russian dictionaries as "wide, short
trousers"-- a totally unsatisfactory definition.
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How do your views on politics and religion affect what
you write?

I have never belonged to any political party but have
always loathed and despised dictatorships and police states, as
well as any sort of oppression. This goes for regimentation of
thought, governmental censorship, racial or religious
persecution, and all the rest of it. Whether or not my simple
credo affects my writing does not interest me. I suppose that
my indifference to religion is of the same nature as my dislike
of group activities in the domain of political or civic
commitments. I have allowed some of my creatures in some of my
novels to be restless freethinkers but here again I do not care
one bit what kind of faith or brand of non-faith my reader may
assign to their maker.
Click to expand...

Which of the languages you speak do you consider the
most beautiful?

My head says English, my heart, Russian, my ear, French.
Click to expand...
 
Peder said:
StillILearn,

But that must be one potent Jeremy Irons!
Peder
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Just ask pontalba! :D

Were you all talking about Nabokov's belief in an afterlife, or Humbert's? I never saw any indication that HH had any leanings in that direction at all, or that he ever gave it a second thought. (Even when HH referred to of "saving his soul" at the end, he didn't sound the least bit serious or sincere to me.) Nabokov had Charlotte trying to make religious belief into an issue at one point, but HH didn't appear to have any thoughts at all on the matter. Did I miss something?
 
steffee said:
Oh yes, I'm still looking at reviews...

I found this interview, I don't know if the interview is real or not, or if it's included in Speak Memory...
Click to expand...

Oh, steffee! Thank you so much for those quotes! I love them. This one is priceless.

I would say that of all my books Lolita has left me
with the most pleasurable afterglow-- perhaps because it is the
purest of all, the most abstract and carefully contrived.
Click to expand...

Well, they all are! :D Marvelous find!
 
StillILearn said:
Just ask pontalba! :D

Were you all talking about Nabokov's belief in an afterlife, or Humbert's? I never saw any indication that HH had any leanings in that direction at all, or that he ever gave it a second thought. (Even when HH referred to of "saving his soul" at the end, he didn't sound the least bit serious or sincere to me.) Nabokov had Charlotte trying to make religious belief into an issue at one point, but HH didn't appear to have any thoughts at all on the matter. Did I miss something?
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StillILearn,
Way back at post #1042 I made a comment about Humbert looking for his truthfuness to save his soul, even when the facts revealed were so black and damning. Steffe asked what Nabokov's religious beliefs might be. I said he had a belief in an afterlife but was not conventionally religiouus as far as I knew. And that has trickled down to this point. So it was VN's beliefs not HH's.
However, if you missed the two poems then you really have missed soemthing!

And Steffe, I'm still looking for the Plagiarize poem, but now, exactly as I type that, I realize it must be in the wikipedia article on plagiarism. But I'll do the legwork if you don't want another wild goose chase.
Peder
 
Peder said:
StillILearn,
And Steffe, I'm still looking for the Plagiarize poem, but now, exactly as I type that, I realize it must be in the wikipedia article on plagiarism. But I'll do the legwork if you don't want another wild goose chase.
Peder
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No, I'm off there now... :D
 
Peder said:
StillILearn,
Way back at post #1042 I made a comment about Humbert looking for his truthfuness to save his soul, even when the facts revealed were so black and damning. Steffe asked what Nabokov's religious beliefs might be. I said he had a belief in an afterlife but was not conventionally religiouus as far as I knew. And that has trickled down to this point. So it was VN's beliefs not HH's.
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Which question, happily, he (Nabokov) answered in the interview! :D Okay, I'd better go back and reread from post #1000 on, otherwise I'm going to be asking answered questions here. :rolleyes:

Boy, are we ever going to be prepared for that pop Nabokov quiz.
 
steffee said:
*nods enthusiastically whilst choking on tea* Yes, "poor, poor" Humbert the Horrible, all he needed was someone to "understand" him. *splutter* ;)
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Oh, yeah. That was when I temporarily became the Stepford StillI :D

All better now! ;)

Lynch him! :D
 
Steffee,
This link is better than the wikipedia link**

Tom Lehrer - Lobachevsky

In the middle it includes the half dozen lines usually quoted, from 'plagiarize' down through 'research.'. But if in general you have never heard Tom Lehrer's songs (from long ago) then you are missing a treat. Lobachevsky is an example.

**The lines seem to have disappered from the wikipedia article, even though the google link still points to them there. [!] Or else my eyesight is really failing!

But enjoy, :)
Peder
 
Peder said:
Steffee,
This link is better than the wikipedia link**

Tom Lehrer - Lobachevsky

**The lines seem to have disappered from the wikipedia article, even though the google link still points to them there. [!] Or else my eyesight is really failing!
Click to expand...

I have never heard of Tom Lehrer!!

I searched the plagiarism section of wikipedia (amazing that you can get software to search thousands of documents to prevent plagiarism, best not risk it then!), and the cryptomnesia section, and Lolita, and Nabokov (which I had strangely never looked at) and even that German fellow that Nabokov apparently copied from, whose link was red and there was no page for...

He he, I love it

But plagiarize, plagiarize, plagiarize...
Only be sure always to call it please, "research".
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Peder said:
Steffee,
Tom Lehrer - Lobachevsky

In the middle it includes the half dozen lines usually quoted, from 'plagiarize' down through 'research.'. But if in general you have never heard Tom Lehrer's songs (from long ago) then you are missing a treat. Lobachevsky is an example.

Peder
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ROTFALOLTIC! I probably heard it somewhere along the line, but that is priceless! :cool:

But that must be one potent Jeremy Irons!
Peder
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yes indeed, red hot in fact....... :D
 
Steffee
Those were great interview questions. I especially like this part:
from VN;
How do your views on politics and religion affect what
you write?

I have never belonged to any political party but have
always loathed and despised dictatorships and police states, as
well as any sort of oppression. This goes for regimentation of
thought, governmental censorship, racial or religious
persecution, and all the rest of it.
Click to expand...

Your basic independent man. No wonder we love his writing!:cool:
 
pontalba said:
Steffee
Those were great interview questions. I especially like this part:
from VN;


Your basic independent man. No wonder we love his writing!:cool:
Click to expand...

Yup. It is pretty apparent that he is our kinda guy. And not Humbertish in the least. ;)
 
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