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NEWS/THOUGHTS: Recent essays on Laughter in the Dark
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The current issue of The Threepenny Review (Summer
2007) contains a substantial, highly appreciative
essay on LAUGHTER IN THE DARK by Richard Locke. His
thesis:
". . . After rereading LAUGHTER IN THE DARK--recently
reissued with a fleet new introduction by John
Banville-- . . . I've come to believe that, despite
Nabokov's and Boyd's dismissal, it's actually one of
Nabokov's strongest and richest early works."
Banville's introduction, mentioned by Locke, begins in
this way:
"LAUGHTER IN THE DARK is one of the finest works of
Vladimir Nabokov's early, Russian-language period, a
dazzling, cinematic masterpiece, beautiful, cruel and
horribly funny."
Although I disagree with both writers on various
points--it is distressing, for example, to see
Banville referring to Lolita (the person) as
"corrupt"--I share their high opinion of the novel and
find much to admire in their essays.
Jim Twiggs
Search the archive: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/archives/nabokv-l.html
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Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
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2007) contains a substantial, highly appreciative
essay on LAUGHTER IN THE DARK by Richard Locke. His
thesis:
". . . After rereading LAUGHTER IN THE DARK--recently
reissued with a fleet new introduction by John
Banville-- . . . I've come to believe that, despite
Nabokov's and Boyd's dismissal, it's actually one of
Nabokov's strongest and richest early works."
Banville's introduction, mentioned by Locke, begins in
this way:
"LAUGHTER IN THE DARK is one of the finest works of
Vladimir Nabokov's early, Russian-language period, a
dazzling, cinematic masterpiece, beautiful, cruel and
horribly funny."
Although I disagree with both writers on various
points--it is distressing, for example, to see
Banville referring to Lolita (the person) as
"corrupt"--I share their high opinion of the novel and
find much to admire in their essays.
Jim Twiggs
Search the archive: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/archives/nabokv-l.html
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm