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Vladimir Nabokov: The Enchanter

SIL, Peder--
Yes, I have the purple Casebook, with the Limpid Lo on the cover. But you know the odd part is that I don't think that Lo thought about her looks that much, if you remember Humbert said that: p.49
Is she still brushing her teeth (the only sanitary act Lo performs with real zest)?
And I can't recall any substantial mentions of her caring that much about her looks.

As far as Speak Memory is concerned, I am not even quite as far as Peder :eek: Maybe it would be more organized to take that one on next. Although I have been drawn to Sebastion Knight. Its really six to one half dozen of the other IMO. :)

Time Warp? LOL As in Time Space Continum.....or alternate universe...:D
 
pontalba said:
SIL, Peder--
Yes, I have the purple Casebook, with the Limpid Lo on the cover. But you know the odd part is that I don't think that Lo thought about her looks that much, if you remember Humbert said that: p.49

And I can't recall any substantial mentions of her caring that much about her looks.

Time Warp? LOL As in Time Space Continum.....or alternate universe...:D

Same quote that came to my mind, pontalba. I'd be curious to know how and why Pifer chose that picture for her cover. And why HH is stoking the fire with such zeal.

Hm. Double meanings everywhere. :D
 
StillILearn said:
Same quote that came to my mind, pontalba. I'd be curious to know how and why Pifer chose that picture for her cover. And why HH is stoking the fire with such zeal.

Hm. Double meanings everywhere. :D
Duh!
I can't imagine..........she said innocently :D
 
pontalba said:

And I can't recall any substantial mentions of her caring that much about her looks.

Pontalba,
Seems I've lost a post, maybe in the other place, so stop if you have read this one.

I remember a stray comment that she was very happy with "anything she could wear."

But apart from that she is always being put down as being dirty, and only taking that "badly needed shower" because the hotel "soap was complimentary."

In fact, I think she may be the most under-described female character of any age in all of literature. Not the least, the most unattractively described for a femme who was a man-killer of sorts. Ya' think? :confused:

Peder
 
Humbert pointed out more than once that he was quite attracted to that peculiar (did he describe it as 'brown'?) little girl smell. I know the smell he's talking about. It's a little kid smell. Just plain old eau d' kid. ;)

Oh,oh,oh!

I went to the library today and came back with Shelly II, The Middle of My Century, and VN Selected Letters 1940-1977, and Brain Boyd's VN The Russian Years.

I like the pictures. :)

Edit: Why are men always more attractive when they become older? He was handsome as a youngster, but he looks somewhat supercilious; as he matured, he became well, more interesting looking.

Apparently 'vacuous' is only becoming when it comes to women.
 
In Vera it is mentioned that the Nabokov's became enamored of tanning, and exercise. He turned quite dark, and she a rosy brownish. Evidently they were addicted to that for the rest of their lives. VN certainly made Lolita tanned and healthy looking.

by SIL Edit: Why are men always more attractive when they become older? He was handsome as a youngster, but he looks somewhat supercilious;as he matured, he became well, more interesting.

Apparently 'vacuous' is only becoming when it comes to women.
When I was a kid, I found my mothers old scrap books of actors and actresses. I particularly remember a picture of Robert Taylor as a very young man. He'd have made a gorgeous woman! Yet when he matured, he was extremely masculine. And might I add extremely attractive to me! Go figure!

Vacuous? Becoming? Ewwwww!
 
Peder said:
Pontalba,
I remember a stray comment that she was very happy with "anything she could wear."

But apart from that she is always being put down as being dirty, and only taking that "badly needed shower" because the hotel "soap was complimentary."

In fact, I think she may be the most under-described female character of any age in all of literature. Not the least, the most unattractively described for a femme who was a man-killer of sorts. Ya' think? :confused:

Peder

Thats true, Peder and it only goes in the compliment stack of VN's that he could make a young girl that is only outlined with chestnut hair and grey eyes that compelling. :cool:

I do remember the remarks you posted, but for some reason the brushing of teeth made an impression on me. Maybe because they made a point of it in the movie.....Irons I think, of Lo energetically brushing her teeth. :rolleyes:
 
pontalba said:
I do remember the remarks you posted, but for some reason the brushing of teeth made an impression on me. Maybe because they made a point of it in the movie.....Irons I think, of Lo energetically brushing her teeth. :rolleyes:
You women! Now it's my turn, finally, to say you just don't ubderstand how we think. I remember the shower reference.
Don't ya' think that in the movies it was easier to show a picture of her brushing her teeth than a picture of her in the shower (getting all nice and lathery)? j/k j/k :D
Sheesh.
Peder
 
Um, excuse me, but I think we know all too well how the male mind works. :rolleyes: :D :cool:

Throw in a lathery babe, and thats all they need to make 'em happy. VN was going for the cererbal........no shower scenes allowed! :D
 
pontalba said:
Um, excuse me, but I think we know all too well how the male mind works. :rolleyes: :D :cool:

Throw in a lathery babe, and thats all they need to make 'em happy. VN was going for the cererbal........no shower scenes allowed! :D
Well, drat, Pontalba,
I thought I was missing something. But now I know.
Oh well :rolleyes:
Have to get along with brushing teeth, but I tell ya' it's not the same. :cool:
Peder
 
Peder said:
Well, drat, Pontalba,
I thought I was missing something. But now I know.
Oh well :rolleyes:
Have to get along with brushing teeth, but I tell ya' it's not the same. :cool:
Peder
ROTFALOLTIC! ;) :cool: :D
Always remember, and never forget.........Life is one trial after the next.

Whether 'tis nobler..............

etc.

etc.
 
On p. 84-85 of The Enchanter actually in the back On a Book Entitled the Enchanter written by Dmitri Nabokov:

......I had already been bundled off to Deauville with a cousin of Mother's, since it was feared that the rumble of Hitler's bombs might reach Paris. (It did, but only after our departure for America, and I think one of the few bombs actually dropped on the city did hit our building as we were crossing on the Champlain.The vessel, too, was destined to be destroyed after having safely delivered us with no more than the spout of an occasional whale to alarm a couple of trigger-happy gunners; on its next voyage, for which we had originally held passage, it was sunk with all aboard by a German submarine.)
Now thats enough to give one the shivers!
 
pontalba said:
On p. 84-85 of The Enchanter actually in the back On a Book Entitled the Enchanter written by Dmitri Nabokov:

Now thats enough to give one the shivers!

Pontalba,
It has been said they got out at the last minute. They got out at the last-last minute, when you read something like that! Plus from what I have read, Speak Memory ends with them having made the heart wrenching decision to come to America and heading toward their fateful voyage. Not anywhere near there yet myself. But thrills galore ahead, I imagine.
Brrrrrr
Peder
 
Snow White and Rose Red

When last seen, we had two evil cads, but still thought we could see differences between them. Eviller and evillest. Humbert and Arthur.

When it comes to the girls, however, they might as well be Snow White and Rose Red! We couldn't ever disentangle Lolita from the, shall we say, literary carnality of Lolita. :rolleyes: With Snow White, er the daughter in The Enchanter there is never any untangling to be done at all, of any sort.

And we never could get a good clear description of Lolita. But we did see her quite vividly enough through her actions! In The Enchanter it is quite the reverse. We have descriptions galore of the daughter, and only the most innocent of actions, whenever she appears. And very few words either.

Browsing through the story, this morning, to try to put substance to those impressions, I came across a dozen separate places where the physical appearance of the daughter is described, in fact every time she appears. And as far as words, she utters just 61 words through out the entire story of 77 pages, of which over half occur in one single paragraph (about swimming) with the rest sprinkled throughout. Much less than a word per page, on average. In further fact, she disappears completely from the story for 24 pages (30%) right through the central climax of the story.

It is not hard at all to say that she is as pure as the driven snow, and that the major part of the story is about Arthur snaking his way toward the daughter through an environmental forest of well-meaning and unsuspecting relatives and friends.

In this story the snake is out after Eve, not Adam, and there are no moral complexities to be resolved. The mystery and dramatic tension revolve entirely about how the snake is going to manage it. And thereby hangs the tale.

Peder
 
Its as though VN wrote TE, then elaborated on it, turned it inside out and reversed polarity for Lolita. So much is superficially the same, but Lolita is deeper and stronger and certainly more compelling IMO than TE. Although I must say the ending (POW!) is certainly spine chillingly dynamite.

I love the analysis and depth of Lolita I want to know why people do what they do, and it is explained so beautifully in Lolita. Breaca caught that one portion of a sentence about a sister that I completely missed, and it explained so much of Arthur's motivations and history. And if I missed it I know someone else must have missed it too.
Peder said-- the major part of the story is about Arthur snaking his way toward the daughter through an environmental forest of well-meaning and unsuspecting relatives and friends.

This is the defining review of The Enchanter in my opinion. It covers the major action of the book. :D :cool:
 
pontalba said:
Its as though VN wrote TE, then elaborated on it, turned it inside out and reversed polarity for Lolita. So much is superficially the same, but Lolita is deeper and stronger and certainly more compelling IMO than TE. Although I must say the ending (POW!) is certainly spine chillingly dynamite.

I love the analysis and depth of Lolita I want to know why people do what they do, and it is explained so beautifully in Lolita. Breaca caught that one portion of a sentence about a sister that I completely missed, and it explained so much of Arthur's motivations and history. And if I missed it I know someone else must have missed it too.


This is the defining review of The Enchanter in my opinion. It covers the major action of the book. :D :cool:
Pontalba,
I absolutely agree with you and all others who say that Lolita is by far the superior book! And for all the reasons you say. In fact, using Lolita as a comparison, which is the natural thing to do, it is so far superior that there is no comparison.

I have, however, found enough of interest in Enchanter to see it is a story in its own right with no particular need to compare it to Lolita. The savage review that we have all read strongly implies that it is trash and that is the attitude I take issue with.

I have just finished with a novel I would generously call 'less than distinguished' and others might call 'chick-lit.' And while I hate to mention that genre in the same post as VN, I would remind others (emphatically not yourself, or others here) that if they think The Enchanter is so poor, then they should remember that there is much more room below Enchanter for inferiority.

That's a very backhanded sort of compliment. But I do think the story is best summarized in the line that you have singled out -- which is not what I would call an especially Lolita theme -- and moreover it has the unmistable and very visible writing skill of VN to bring it to life.

So I defend the Enchanter,
With no offense meant to those who very justifiably prefer Lolita.
For an intriguing thought about Enchanter, please check the next post coming.
Peder
 
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