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Vladimir Nabokov: Lolita

Scratching head over double post - it must be magic. It's a shame it wasn't something of great importance or depth:rolleyes:

As for the fishing - well I did wink when I said it:p Actually got called to go and assist in picking out a sucker fish cos my in-laws have some greedy little buggers who gobbled up their last one:eek: Not that I don't enjoy actual fishing - only trouble is need hubby to accompany me as I do not touch the fish, bait, or anything else that may be slimy, wriggley or remotely alive - eewww
 
Ahah, the mystery to double post has been solved as it nearly happened again:mad: Blame it on TPCBD as it popped up just after I hit the submit button.

And Ms P, go ahead laugh at my expense. If I'm not sitting under lonely spotlight in the twilight zone..... Just kidding she quickly adds before anymore apologies come flying this way.
 
Oops, Ms Pontalba, come baackkkk, hello hello. Probably having a fridge raid or better yet cookie crumble moment. Ooh, if I follow the trail of crumbs....:D
 
OK, on a more serious note, I'm off to read latest acquisition - Reading Lo in Tehran. Managed a quick peak this morning after finishing Ms C's novel. Enjoy the writing style so far - descriptive, which is always a big hit with moi. And have lots of sticky post-its quietly waiting in the wings - lest I miss or forget something of great importance/interest.
 
Breaca said:
Ahah, the mystery to double post has been solved as it nearly happened again:mad: Blame it on TPCBD as it popped up just after I hit the submit button.
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Breaca,
Yessss! That's exactly when it happens to me too, just when I think I have lost everything I have typed!
Peder
 
Breaca said:
Oops, Ms Pontalba, come baackkkk, hello hello. Probably having a fridge raid or better yet cookie crumble moment. Ooh, if I follow the trail of crumbs....:D
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no, actually, I've been an Amazon gorge...../sigh/.....help, I've fallen and I can't get up.....

Just kidding. :rolleyes: No help required, Amazon and I have a love/hate relationship.

but the fridge is calling......
Hah! More likely the stove! :D

I've read a bit more in 2L's.....and I have to say that that type of story seems to have been around quite a bit. I don't think either Nabokov or Lichberg had any corner on the market.

Remember the "one story" bit? That was the slant then apparently. My opinion....so far.
 
pontalba said:
I've read a bit more in 2L's.....and I have to say that that type of story seems to have been around quite a bit. I don't think either Nabokov or Lichberg had any corner on the market.

Remember the "one story" bit? That was the slant then apparently. My opinion....so far.
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Pontalba,
Keep reading and sharing! Especially since my book hasn't yet arrived and I am absolutely dying of curiosity here.
Funny you should mention the one-story idea again.
It has occurred to me, human nature being what it is, that the idea of a grown man going after a 12-yr-old girl may be quite alive and well in the world of porn (and i won't use the word 'literature' in the same sentence). I suspect, as a wild guess without any direct knowledge, that every kinky kind of thing can be found there. In fact, maybe even the bare stagework of marrying the mother to get at the child, or even a standard live-in lodger, as part of the story. Anything to get them near one another under one roof and provide the opportunity. VN was at pains to distinguish his book Lolita from pornography, and he did so in quite a detailed manner, according to his idea of what a pornographic book would be like. So maybe Lolita-type stories come from sources not so visible to the usual literary eye, in addition to maybe feeding off one another or off known perverse human behavior. (Oh how I wish I had the book!)

Stepping out for the evening walk,
Peder
 
StillILearn said:
Just came back from the library clutching The Enchanter and A Russian Beauty and Other Stories to my breast. :)
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StillILearn
Ah, a woman of action!
And the stories are by? VN?
Peder
 
I'm quite sure you are right Peder. Older than old is that story. The other day on Oprah, yes, I watched...:eek: , but what drew my attention was the subject matter advertised. A man adopted a young girl (5 yrs) in this case from Russia, and abused her for years. Social workers did not check on the child, the authorities did not interview his ex-wife and daughter. Finally, by a fluke only, thru computer tracing of pornography, a detective located the man, and then of course the girl. She is with a loving mother now, but scarred irreparably by the experience.:( :mad:

So in spite of my previous idea that a story like Lolita's could not take place now.........it unfortunately is.:( In as many variations as there are people.

Regarding the Two Lolitas.....p.40:
Why does Nabokov introduce this Spanish daughter of a nobleman -- not the daughter of a Spanish nobleman, be it noted? No obvious function attaches to her. In the following pages she reappears inconspicuously as Lolita's little Spanish friend. She is the 'lesser nymphet, a diaphanous darling', who skips with Lolita. Taking his leave, Humbert flashes a smile to 'the shy, dark-haired girl of my princess'. But who is smiling at whom here-Humbert at a missed chance, or his creator, with a tint to her hair, at the lesser Spanish nymphet of the aristocrat Von Lichberg? If Nabokov had wanted to hide a small thanks for certain page services, he certainly couldn't have done so more elegantly.
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StillILearn
Ah, a woman of action!
And the stories are by? VN?
Peder
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Yup. Copyright 1973 and dedicated to Vera. Well, I'm off to read. I got a nice new red reading chair, and am simply longing to try it out.

CU in the AM, slugabeds. :D

(My One Click copy of The Enchanter arrived this afternoon after I posted about bringing home the library copy. I'd forgotten that I'd ordered it. Ay,ay,ay. This is worse than double posting any day.) :rolleyes:
 
The Two Lolitas

p.46
The creator of the first Lolita joined the Nazi Party in May 1933. Soon afterwards he became a member of the editorial board of the Vilkische Beobachter. But the next year it became clear that politically he was not entirely reliable..........Lichberg, writing as a dramatic critic, had panned a Nazi play in the official organ of the Party.
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So, perhaps he was not a good little boy at all times, but he certainly wrote a nasty, highly racist book entitled Nantucket-Lightship. It was anti-semitic to the nth degree. :(
p.50-51
Even if we banish from our thoughts the name-games Nabokov will play with Lotte, Lolita and Lottelita, this secret, nagging longing for little Lottegives the valediction an almost symbolic force. Heinz von Lichberg withdraws rom the public sphere, and returns to the military world. There he makes a career in the Wehrmacht -- or more precisely, in the secret services.
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Evidently he was recruited into the circle around Admiral Canaris, head of foreign intelligence. And ended up a British prisoner of war......released in April 1946, died without issue in March 1951.

To say von Lichberg was interesting is an understatement, and as it turns out while similar to Nabokov in some ways, utterly opposite in many important and ethical ways.
 
Pontalba,
It sounds like Maar has really dug his teeth into the subject so I would expect that he is going to be doing research for some time to come. Methinks we have not heard the last of the topic. To use a buzzword, it sure is a textured world we live in. The other buzzword, nuanced, would be much too pale in this case. :)
Many thanks for the post,
It sounds like it is not a 'lightweight' book,
Peder
 
The Two Lolitas

Peder For a skinny little book, it packs quite a lot of information! And yes, I agree that Maar has only scraped the top so to speak. And when he sketches out "Three Possibilities; Growing Danger", he really brings things to a head. Plus of course he includes two stories by Heinz von Lichberg.....Lolita and Atomite. :D

I can't wait to hear your conclusions. :)
 
StillILearn I hear you over there, in your lovely, deep red chair exclaiming over The Enchanter....grinding your teeth.....until the end.:D
Hope you finish it tonight! But don't give away the ending just yet.;)
 
pontalba said:
Peder For a skinny little book, it packs quite a lot of information! And yes, I agree that Maar has only scraped the top so to speak. And when he sketches out "Three Possibilities; Growing Danger", he really brings things to a head. Plus of course he includes two stories by Heinz von Lichberg.....Lolita and Atomite. :D

I can't wait to hear your conclusions. :)
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Pontalba
Yay! Hooray! Now I know it is the right book! Previous information had only indicated that two stories were included, but not that his Lolita was one of them! Exactly what I wanted -- a chance to tead his Lolita itself! Whatever I may think of the rest of the book, that is going to be the high point for me! Now I definitely can't wait! This is really going to be something, with both VN's Enchanter and Lolita freshly in mind!
Not a smallest hint, please!
/rubbing hands and salivating/
Peder

Plus, here's a few more exclamation marks !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Distribute as you wish :D
 
pontalba said:
StillILearn I hear you over there, in your lovely, deep red chair exclaiming over The Enchanter....grinding your teeth.....until the end.:D
Hope you finish it tonight! But don't give away the ending just yet.;)
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Pontalba,
... Or the scene leading to the ending, either! It sounds like we'alls are soon gonna be filled to bursting with things too good to be talked about. :rolleyes: :) :) :) Darn that VN!
Sitting here on both hands with mouth tight shut,
(Typing with nose, :cool: )
Peder
 
Anticipation, anticipation, anticipation....is making me wait.....keeping me waiting......heh, heh, heh.......:D

Peder
have you been at the caffeine again...? ;)

I wondered if you knew the other Lolita was in it. I thought I'd just missed that factoid. :rolleyes:
 
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