Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0004185, Wed, 16 Jun 1999 08:25:27 -0700

Subject
Censoring LOLITA
Date
Body
EDITOR's NOTE. Sarah Funke is the organizer and curator of the Glen
Horowitz exhibition of VN's inscribed books in NYC. She is also the
editor/compiler of the very handsome, accompanying volume VERA's
BUTTERFLIES published by Glen Horowitz Bookseller.

---------- Forwarded message ---------- From:
SarahFunke@aol.com

For the record, the original letter to Morris Bishop about Lolita and
pornography is correctly reproduced in Selected Letters.

I would like to point out that he used these sentences not just in the
unpublished letter to Robert MacGregor on April 21, 1956 and to Morris Bishop
on March 6, 1956 (Selected Letters), but also to Pascal Covici on March 29,
1956 (also in Selected Letters).

I have not seen the original letter to Covici, but as it is reproduced in
Selected Letters what was a semi-colon in the letter to Bishop (and to
MacGregor) has become a period and "each other" has been changed to "one
another."

As a read straight through Strong Opinions reminds one, VN found many
different ways to express the same thought. Often each new expression was as
beautiful, witty, and clever as the last. I would be interested in reading
other ways in which he discussed the subject of Lolita and pornography (other
than in "On a book entitled Lolita), if anyone knows of any.

Thanks!

Sarah Funke


SarahFunke@AOL.com
Glenn Horowitz Bookseller, Inc.
19 East 76th Street
NYC 10021
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