Vladimir Nabokov: Lolita

[Peder]

All aboard!! Jumped ship? Never. But I must confess to a little lurking once in a while. But on the whole, whenever I've ventured out of my shell it's usually to find myself standing alone in threadland . And so I sadly turn away in hope that my timing will be a little better next time Besides, it's no fun being a wall-flower.

Look forward to getting my hands on The Enchanter. And have just acquired Reading Lolita in Tehran. I've enjoyed this thread immensely, even when standing under my lonely spot light - sniff, sniff. Are ya feelin sorry for me yet So all aboard the Nabokov Express....

Coffee and strudel are calling me - well it is tea time(ish).

Breaca,
Definitely feeling sorry for you if that is the way you feel.
I was going to suggest standing under a streetlight. Then some friendly guy is almost sure to come along and say hello. I cruise sporadically at almost any hour of day or night. American and British!
Peder

 

[StillILearn]

All aboard!! Jumped ship? Never. But I must confess to a little lurking once in a while. But on the whole, whenever I've ventured out of my shell it's usually to find myself standing alone in threadland . And so I sadly turn away in hope that my timing will be a little better next time Besides, it's no fun being a wall-flower.

Look forward to getting my hands on The Enchanter. And have just acquired Reading Lolita in Tehran. I've enjoyed this thread immensely, even when standing under my lonely spot light - sniff, sniff. Are ya feelin sorry for me yet So all aboard the Nabokov Express....

Coffee and strudel are calling me - well it is tea time(ish).

Oh, breaca! My apologies if I ever left you standing there waiting for a reply! I am absolutely interested in any and all observations you have to make on the above books! It could only have been a matter of crossed timing that left you waiting in vain for a response around here. In future remember to yell, "Answer me!" if all else fails.

 

[Peder]

You think?

Still,Yes, that is what I really think, that blame is not to be taken by anybody from this forum.
And since you ask seriously (and thankfully are still talking to me), I'll answer seriously.
We have run now for 1100+ posts and during that entire time I have never heard any voce from the outside world (or the inside world) hinting in any way shape or form that we should be doing anything differently or that we were doing anything wrong. Even lately, as I have tried by every means known to me, to entice comments from anyone at all who is aware of this forum, there have still been no responses. Zero, flat zero! I find that surprising, but I also feel people have had their chance and haven't found any reason to say anything.
There may have been reasons one might imagine that more people didn't find the forum attractive to them, but I am not going to obsess about such reasons in the absence of any indication whatever.
But if anyone were to have any criticism to bear, I think it would probably be me. I have the feeling that inside the forum, and maybe outside, I am in some sense viewed as the Leader of the Pack. And I am willing to accept that I have probably set the tone for this forum by my high enthusism, my general wordiness and my frequent posting. So if someone wishes to register a critical opinion about the forum, I think they should probably direct it at me, and no one else. But so far that hasn't happened either, knock wood! Frankly I think we have a success on our hands here, and a forum that TBF can be proud of. Really, I do believe that. And that is a result of everybody's participation! And really, I do believe that also!
So I really do believe you should feel happier about it if you are not.
Hope that helps,
Yours most sincerely,
Peder

 

[StillILearn]

StillILearn,
I hope you will allow me to apologize for blowing up in your face, esspeciallly when you were being conciliatiry. I should have counted to 100 first. then posted. So I am abjectly sorry for my behavior and hope that you can find it in yourself to forgive it, and maybe one day forget it.

Peder

Nonsense! I am feeling much reassured, not to mention flattered. And I always blame myself. It's my nature to obsess, so I'm very much relieved to hear that you don't do it too.

But maybe breaca has made an important point. Some of us may have been yelling so loud and throwing things around so much that we either ignored or scared off the saner members of the crew. It's even remotely possible that some of us did get the tiniest bit carried away once or twice there during the trial.

 

[Peder]

Breaca,
Dense me, I didnt realize you might have meant that you were ignored when you were here and we were having a discussion. If that ever happened I am truly sincerely sorry. I try to respond to every post, because I am interested in what everyone has to say, If I missed you please be assured it was oversight. I shall definitely try harder now to double check every new post whenever I log on. Sometimes I know I have missed.
Peder

 

[Peder]

Nonsense! I am feeling much reassured, not to mention flattered. And I always blame myself. It's my nature to obsess, so I'm very much relieved to hear that you don't do it too.

But maybe breaca has made an important point. Some of us may have been yelling so loud and throwing things around so much that we either ignored or scared off the saner members of the crew. It's even remotely possible that some of us did get the tiniest bit carried away once or twice there during the trial.

Still,
I think the trial was among your finest hours, so I still beg to differ. And I find it hard to believe we scared people away. People please speak up if we have! My experience is that forum people are sturdier than that, else they don't last long. Especially some that have told me where to get off, fortunately not here, not yet.
But leaving some one hanging is not good, and I didnt see us doing much of that. Again anyone speak up!
I guess Breaca has, and I am sorry,

Peder

 

[pontalba]

Oh Puleezzeee.....StillI, you have nuttin' be guilty for, and neither do any of us. I cannot believe that a person that was interested in Lolita could have been put off by wordy us. Now Peder don't you dare go on about your "General Wordiness" (I quote you), cause I wouldn't say that!! Your posts are a marvelous example of what posting should be. Informative, interesting, and yes....funny. This forum would not have been any fun at all without your input. But as you say, everybody has contributed. Steffee for example has come out with some marvelous insights, as well as Breaca andSFG75. Where the heck is he anyway?

It would have been pretty boring if we all had the same outlook, the same opinions, etc....and this has been anything but boring. I just wish that others that I can't remember all the names....Gem, Ruby et als would have been able to contribute more. But theres still time folks.!

 

[pontalba]

BTW. my copy of The Two Lolitas arrived today.....
And The Gift. What can I say, it was on sale.....

 

[Peder]

But theres still time folks.!

Yes, indeedy! I hope this forum isn't dying anytime soon. And I hope it is the people who are still reading who will chime in and help carry it forward.
Peder

 

[Peder]

BTW, Gem, Ruby, any others still reading,
I've been wondering what your reactions have been to the spoilers we have so liberally been including and discussing. Annoyance? Don't care? Been reading along? Been ignoring them? Helped enjoyment? Reduced enjoyment? Any thoughts at all would be welcome and interesting.

Peder

 

[StillILearn]

Well, as Ell said before going on to blog heaven:

Take back the boards and make them into what you want.

I guess if we're having fun and making seventy-five posts per day (and piling up the TBRs at an alarming rate), then that's what we're here for and it's probably time to yell "Load 'em up, and let's move out!"

Peder, if you will get out your machete and start slashing through the undergrowth, I will follow fearlessly. (pontalba, I presume, is adjusting the mosquito netting on the new helmet she got from amazon.com )

I trust and believe that we will be joining up with our fellows at a fork in the river downstream.

Charlie Allnut: How'd you like it?
Rose Sayer: Like it?
Charlie Allnut: White water rapids!
Rose Sayer: I never dreamed...
Charlie Allnut: I don't blame you for being scared - not one bit. Nobody with good sense ain't scared of white water...
Rose Sayer: I never dreamed that any mere physical experience could be so stimulating!

And you, my dear Peder, get to be Mr Allnut.

 

[Peder]

That's very consoling Still But glad you're going to be there right behind me. If there are any questions, I'll say "Ask her."
Meanwhile Pontalba's Two Lolitas has arrived; mine might arrive shortly. It's been shipped. So there should be some Lolita nuggets in them to report.
And that sounds like a plan!
CU tmw
Peder

 

[pontalba]

"The Two Lolitas" by Michael Maar

From the front inside flap:

We know the girl and her story, and we know the title. But the author was Heinz von Lichberg, whose tale of Lolita appeared in 1916, forty years before Nabokov's celebrated novel took the world by storm.........The Two Lolitas uncovers a remarkable series of parallels between the two works and their authors..........or was this a classic case of 'cryptoamnesia', with the earlier tale existing for Nabokov as a hidden, unacknowledged memory? In this extraordinary literary detective story, Michael Maar casts new light on the making of one of the most influential works of the twentith century.

Well, that certainly whets the appetite!

From the first paragraph on p.11

A cultivated man of middle age recounts the story of his coup de foudre. It all starts when, travelling abroad, he takes a room as a lodger. The moment he sees the daughter of the house, he is lost. She is very young, but her charms instantly enslave him. Heedless of her tender age, he becomes intimate with her. In the end she dies, and the narrator--marked by her for ever--remains alone. The name of the girl supplies the title of the story: 'Lolita'. It is the ninth of the fifteen tales in the collection The Accursed Gioconda, and it appeared forty years before its famous homonym.

More tomorrow. But from the little I have so far gleaned, the two authors are somewhat parallel as well.....hmmmm......

StillI, Oh, not only mosquito netting, but I have stocked up on something the traveller to furrin parts simply must not be without.

1. coffee and chicory
2. much chocolate
3. cell phone
4. CD player with extra batteries

Lets keep our priorities straight!


Did I mention chocolate?

 

[pontalba]

All aboard!! Jumped ship? Never. But I must confess to a little lurking once in a while. But on the whole, whenever I've ventured out of my shell it's usually to find myself standing alone in threadland . And so I sadly turn away in hope that my timing will be a little better next time Besides, it's no fun being a wall-flower.

Look forward to getting my hands on The Enchanter. And have just acquired Reading Lolita in Tehran. I've enjoyed this thread immensely, even when standing under my lonely spot light - sniff, sniff. Are ya feelin sorry for me yet So all aboard the Nabokov Express....

Coffee and strudel are calling me - well it is tea time(ish).

Well, all I can say if the little green lights have gone dark, jes holler! But I know what you mean, sometimes I come on here and lots of little green lights are on, and by the time I finish posting, everybodys deserted me

j/k j/k j/k..............

strudel? boo hoo, boo hoo...............send some over here!

 

[ruby]

BTW, Gem, Ruby, any others still reading,
I've been wondering what your reactions have been to the spoilers we have so liberally been including and discussing. Annoyance? Don't care? Been reading along? Been ignoring them? Helped enjoyment? Reduced enjoyment? Any thoughts at all would be welcome and interesting.

Peder

Peder

The spoilers which you have included really helped me choose to read this book,they got me hooked and thats why i couldnt wait to read the book in the first place. I have been reading along and have enjoyed the discussion.
But a friend had told me about Lolita a while before the discussion had started so he had me interested anyway

 

[Peder]

From the front inside flap:


Well, that certainly whets the appetite!

Pontalba,
Including The Enchanter, that sounds to me like three different Lolitas so far. Unless the author is going to take the view that there was only one Lolita, which I assume he has, and which caused/causes the excitement.

Time will tell, of course, (how fast can you read?) and 'whets the appetite' is a severe understatement! (Where is that Parcel Post man with my copy?)

I hope the author also says something about how typical, or not, the idea of older men compromising children is in literature/myth/fable. Or even having children by them. Zeus was a pretty busy guy as I recall. And. as a crime, I suspect it must have existed for quite a while now. I would be surprised if the Church didn't have an opinion on it in the Middle Ages, for example. Our view of morality had to come from someplace. As a totally wild guess, who knows, maybe even ,,,,,,, the Bible? (Gasp!)

I also hope, that the author gives some indication where the controversy currently stands. Google hasn't been very helpful for me yet, and I certainly don't read or travel in the circles where the matter would be discussed.

So it sounds like I am going to get some training in the virtue of Patience!
Where is that post-man?!
Peder

 

[Peder]

Peder

The spoilers which you have included really helped me choose to read this book,they got me hooked and thats why i couldnt wait to read the book in the first place. I have been reading along and have enjoyed the discussion.
But a friend had told me about Lolita a while before the discussion had started so he had me interested anyway

Ruby,
Thanks a million for your answer! It is not one I would have expected -- shows how much I know! But, now that you mention it, I suppose it is easy to imagine that we each came to Lolita in different ways. In my case, through another book. She's a famous little girl!

Very glad that you are hanging in there and still with us,
Hope you got that reading time you mentioned,
Peder

 

[Breaca]

Oh you guys No apologies needed. I have loved each and every posting on this amazing thread. Nobody has scared me off. I'm made of tuff stuff ya know. I get it from my mother's side - irish and redheaded to boot. She's all of 5 feet but she's one tough cookie. Cookie being an important word here as she's kinda sweet too.

So quit the apologising, nothing to apologise for. My lonesome mutterings were more the 'aw shucks, I missed everyone again'. Wordy threads.... er this is a book site and yep me looove words. So word away - that's what has made this thread so marvelous darlings, absolute genious, pure magic.... ya getting the message yet

 

[StillILearn]

Peder

The spoilers which you have included really helped me choose to read this book,they got me hooked and thats why i couldnt wait to read the book in the first place. I have been reading along and have enjoyed the discussion.
But a friend had told me about Lolita a while before the discussion had started so he had me interested anyway

I'm glad all the spoilers haven't ruined the book for you, ruby! I'm looking forward to hearing your comments.

 

[Breaca]

Pontalba - Sorry me dearest, but strudel has been slurped with over a cup of java, she says licking her fingers. May be next time!

And by the way, where are you then? Are you up yet MMm too early. Must still be slumbering dreaming of HH no doubt - ouch she pinched me And all in her sleep too.