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A good summary 50 years of para-LOLITA history
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----- Forwarded message from spklein52@hotmail.com -----
Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 15:53:49 -0400
From: "Sandy P. Klein" <spklein52@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: SPKlein52@HotMail.com
Subject: Nabokov's literary executorDmitri Nabokov, the author's son ...
To: SPKlein52@HotMail.com
Saturday, September 10, 2005 10:05 AM PDT
de la Durantaye: 'Lolita' Still Sexy at 50
THE VILLAGE VOICE Fri, 09 Sep 2005 4:27 PM PDT
Fifty years after that triple trip of the tongue, Nabokov's nymphet
is as mesmerizing as ever by Leland de la Durantaye
[2] http://www.villagevoice.com/books/0537,essay,67720,10.html[3] [4]
The Essay
The Original of Lolita
Fifty years after that triple trip of the tongue, Nabokov's nymphet
is as mesmerizing as ever
BY LELAND DE LA DURANTAYE
September 9th, 2005 6:41 PM
In 1964, Vladimir Nabokov, 64 years old but as lively and
mischievous as ever, turned to the _Playboy _interviewer seated in
his hotel room. "Let us skip sex," he said. Thanks to the tale of
ardent sexual love, loss, and violation that had catapulted Nabokov
to international fame 10 years earlier, this was not an easy thing to
do.
_Lolita _did not have an easy birth, or a peaceful youth. Finishing
the difficult book turned out to be only the beginning. A fictional
memoir recounting the explicitly sexual affair of a middle-aged
European man of refinement and a lovely and blithe American preteen
was not an easy sell to publishers of the '50s. Nabokov sent his
manuscript to his editor at _The New Yorker_, Katharine White,
stipulating that no one but her or her husband was to read it. He was
understandably perplexed some months later when he found in that same
magazine a story by Dorothy Parker telling of a widow and her
daughter competing for the affections of an older man—entitled
"Lolita." White assured him that this was pure coincidence. Despite
such early frustrations, Nabokov kept up his efforts to find a home
for his wayward daughter. Finding no publisher in America or England
ready to run the real risk of prosecution, his thoughts turned to the
land of libertinage. His European agent put him in touch with the
Paris-based, English-language Olympia Press and its director, Maurice
Girodias, who declared himself ready and willing to publish the work.
Nabokov knew that it would appear in the Olympia catalog alongside
such respected if controversial figures as Laurence Durrell, Henry
Miller, and Jean Genet. He did not know that that list would also
include such works as _The Whip Angels, The Enormous Bed, _and _I'm
for Hire._
_Lolita_ appeared in September 1955 as part of Olympia's
"Traveller's Companion" series. This was too late—at least to
accompany the travelers the publisher had in mind. The press did the
bulk of its semi-salacious business in books bought for France's long
summer vacations in July and August. _Lolita_ missed this window of
opportunity. As a result, it sold few copies and attracted little
attention—until the night before Christmas. In the London _Sunday
__Times_' winter holiday issue, Graham Greene listed Nabokov's_
_unknown novel as one of the three best of the year. (Two facts bear
noting here: Greene exercised great influence, and some years earlier
he had been sued by Shirley Temple's parents and her studio for a
review of _Wee Willie Winkie _in which he made reference to her "neat
and well-developed rump"). A Scottish editor of no small conservatism,
and no fan of Greene's, soon got his indignant hands on _Lolita_ and
promptly denounced it as "the filthiest book I have ever read." (He
obviously skipped _The Whip Angels_.) John Gordon fired his
indignation into his foot and the ensuing scandal made _Lolita_ a
bestseller.
In the intervening years, _Lolita_ has been read by millions and
written about by thousands. Modern-dance pieces, operas, and pop
songs have all found inspiration in it. Indie-rock bands have
borrowed their names from both its hero and its villain (who are both
villains). The Iranian writer Azar Nafisi has credited it with helping
her to teach women in her homeland to think more courageously about
their world. The_ Oxford English Dictionary _has_ _incorporated its
inventions and nearly every university in America offers classes
teaching it. And yet, scandal has continued to shadow Lolita's lovely
steps. While Stanley Kubrick's daring film version of the novel made
its way into the theaters in 1962 without incident, Adrian Lyne's
carefully disturbing one from 1997 did not, falling victim to a U.S.
public-obscenity law that kept it from U.S. theaters and sending its
premiere to Italy. Edward Albee adapted _Lolita_ for the New York
stage in 1981. Despite a stellar cast featuring Donald Sutherland,
the play was an unconditional flop and closed nine merciful days
later.
In the print world, the Italian novelist Pia Pera undertook a
radical retelling of the story. The conceit of _Lo's Diary, _first
published in Italian in 1995, was to tell Nabokov's story not from
the perspective of the refined and rapacious Humbert Humbert, but
instead from that of the young girl. Pera's "Lo" is well aware of
what's going on and enjoys a good deal of it. More upsetting to
Nabokov's literary executor—Dmitri Nabokov, the author's son—than
Pera's ample borrowings from _Lolita_'s plot proved her deviations
from it, such as a scene where Lolita sodomizes a drugged and
sleeping Humbert with a pen. (Reader: symbol!) When Farrar, Straus &
Giroux announced an English translation, he filed suit for copyright
violation. Threats were fired back and forth until a unique
out-of-court settlement was reached: Dmitri, a retired race car
driver and opera singer, agreed to the publication of an English
translation of the novel on the condition that it be accompanied by a
preface—written by himself. He trashes it.
Even today, the school for scandal has not let out. Its general
focus has changed, however—from the post-history of _Lolita_, with
its adaptations and appropriations, to its pre-history and
precursors. This began in 1985 with the re-publication of the
anonymous memoir of a Ukrainian pedophile. Nabokov's letters testify
to his having read in the years before he wrote _Lolita_ the
anonymous memoirs of a Ukrainian pedophile published as an appendix
to the French edition of Havelock Ellis's _Studies in Psychology of
Sex_ (fearing the English public's reaction, Ellis had withheld it
from the earlier English edition). Several passionate Nabokovians
claimed—on scant evidence—that herein lay an important inspiration
for Nabokov's book. More recent, and far more perplexing, is German
literary scholar Michael Maar's uncovering last year a long-forgotten
German short story pseudonymously authored by a Hessian aristocrat in
1916 (Nabokov and his family moved to Berlin in 1920). The compact
tale brims with doubles, delirium, and pedophilia—and is entitled
"Lolita" (for more on this curious matter, see Maar's _The Two
Lolitas, _out from Verso this month). And in another twist in the
search for _Lolita'_s origins, Australian author Joanne Morgan's
_Solving Nabokov's Lolita Riddle_ (Cosynch Press, 2005) is, by her
own description, "a code-cracking book" that "proves that Nabokov
wrote Lolita as a semi-autobiographical account of his own terrible
sexual abuse as a boy at the hands of his molesting, pedophilic Uncle
Ruka."
When Nabokov died in 1977, he left behind an unfinished novel
entitled _The Original of Laura. _His express wish was that it be
destroyed upon his death. Before him, Virgil and Kafka had left
similar instructions; neither was obeyed. Nor was Nabokov. His wife,
VĂ©ra, found herself unable to carry out her late husband's wishes,
and when she passed away in 1991 she bequeathed the decision to their
son. The manuscript's location is kept secret.
If Nabokov's wishes are to be respected, _The Original of Laura
_will never be read by any but the few intimates who have already
done so. As to the original of _Lolita_, no such special precautions
need be taken. The original of _Lolita_ is not the story of a Hessian
aristocrat, just as little as it is the memoir of an anonymous
Ukrainian, or the author's improbable molestation at the fumbling
hands of his uncle. To search for the experiences leading to a work
of art is as natural as not finding them. But ultimately, the
original of _Lolita_ is something we do not know and will never know,
and is nothing other than the perfectly private movements of the mind
of her creator. That the result should have proved so surprising is
of the order of things. As a character in _Lolita_ remarks_, _"A
great work of art is of course always original, and thus by its very
nature should come as a more or less shocking surprise."
-------------------------
_Leland de la Durantaye is an assistant professor of English and
American literature and language at Harvard University._
Links:
------
[1] http://www.villagevoice.com/
[2] http://www.villagevoice.com/
[3] http://www.villagevoice.com/books/0537,essay,67720,10.html
[4] http://www.villagevoice.com/generic/books
----- End forwarded message -----
Date: Sat, 10 Sep 2005 15:53:49 -0400
From: "Sandy P. Klein" <spklein52@hotmail.com>
Reply-To: SPKlein52@HotMail.com
Subject: Nabokov's literary executorDmitri Nabokov, the author's son ...
To: SPKlein52@HotMail.com
Saturday, September 10, 2005 10:05 AM PDT
de la Durantaye: 'Lolita' Still Sexy at 50
THE VILLAGE VOICE Fri, 09 Sep 2005 4:27 PM PDT
Fifty years after that triple trip of the tongue, Nabokov's nymphet
is as mesmerizing as ever by Leland de la Durantaye
[2] http://www.villagevoice.com/books/0537,essay,67720,10.html[3] [4]
The Essay
The Original of Lolita
Fifty years after that triple trip of the tongue, Nabokov's nymphet
is as mesmerizing as ever
BY LELAND DE LA DURANTAYE
September 9th, 2005 6:41 PM
In 1964, Vladimir Nabokov, 64 years old but as lively and
mischievous as ever, turned to the _Playboy _interviewer seated in
his hotel room. "Let us skip sex," he said. Thanks to the tale of
ardent sexual love, loss, and violation that had catapulted Nabokov
to international fame 10 years earlier, this was not an easy thing to
do.
_Lolita _did not have an easy birth, or a peaceful youth. Finishing
the difficult book turned out to be only the beginning. A fictional
memoir recounting the explicitly sexual affair of a middle-aged
European man of refinement and a lovely and blithe American preteen
was not an easy sell to publishers of the '50s. Nabokov sent his
manuscript to his editor at _The New Yorker_, Katharine White,
stipulating that no one but her or her husband was to read it. He was
understandably perplexed some months later when he found in that same
magazine a story by Dorothy Parker telling of a widow and her
daughter competing for the affections of an older man—entitled
"Lolita." White assured him that this was pure coincidence. Despite
such early frustrations, Nabokov kept up his efforts to find a home
for his wayward daughter. Finding no publisher in America or England
ready to run the real risk of prosecution, his thoughts turned to the
land of libertinage. His European agent put him in touch with the
Paris-based, English-language Olympia Press and its director, Maurice
Girodias, who declared himself ready and willing to publish the work.
Nabokov knew that it would appear in the Olympia catalog alongside
such respected if controversial figures as Laurence Durrell, Henry
Miller, and Jean Genet. He did not know that that list would also
include such works as _The Whip Angels, The Enormous Bed, _and _I'm
for Hire._
_Lolita_ appeared in September 1955 as part of Olympia's
"Traveller's Companion" series. This was too late—at least to
accompany the travelers the publisher had in mind. The press did the
bulk of its semi-salacious business in books bought for France's long
summer vacations in July and August. _Lolita_ missed this window of
opportunity. As a result, it sold few copies and attracted little
attention—until the night before Christmas. In the London _Sunday
__Times_' winter holiday issue, Graham Greene listed Nabokov's_
_unknown novel as one of the three best of the year. (Two facts bear
noting here: Greene exercised great influence, and some years earlier
he had been sued by Shirley Temple's parents and her studio for a
review of _Wee Willie Winkie _in which he made reference to her "neat
and well-developed rump"). A Scottish editor of no small conservatism,
and no fan of Greene's, soon got his indignant hands on _Lolita_ and
promptly denounced it as "the filthiest book I have ever read." (He
obviously skipped _The Whip Angels_.) John Gordon fired his
indignation into his foot and the ensuing scandal made _Lolita_ a
bestseller.
In the intervening years, _Lolita_ has been read by millions and
written about by thousands. Modern-dance pieces, operas, and pop
songs have all found inspiration in it. Indie-rock bands have
borrowed their names from both its hero and its villain (who are both
villains). The Iranian writer Azar Nafisi has credited it with helping
her to teach women in her homeland to think more courageously about
their world. The_ Oxford English Dictionary _has_ _incorporated its
inventions and nearly every university in America offers classes
teaching it. And yet, scandal has continued to shadow Lolita's lovely
steps. While Stanley Kubrick's daring film version of the novel made
its way into the theaters in 1962 without incident, Adrian Lyne's
carefully disturbing one from 1997 did not, falling victim to a U.S.
public-obscenity law that kept it from U.S. theaters and sending its
premiere to Italy. Edward Albee adapted _Lolita_ for the New York
stage in 1981. Despite a stellar cast featuring Donald Sutherland,
the play was an unconditional flop and closed nine merciful days
later.
In the print world, the Italian novelist Pia Pera undertook a
radical retelling of the story. The conceit of _Lo's Diary, _first
published in Italian in 1995, was to tell Nabokov's story not from
the perspective of the refined and rapacious Humbert Humbert, but
instead from that of the young girl. Pera's "Lo" is well aware of
what's going on and enjoys a good deal of it. More upsetting to
Nabokov's literary executor—Dmitri Nabokov, the author's son—than
Pera's ample borrowings from _Lolita_'s plot proved her deviations
from it, such as a scene where Lolita sodomizes a drugged and
sleeping Humbert with a pen. (Reader: symbol!) When Farrar, Straus &
Giroux announced an English translation, he filed suit for copyright
violation. Threats were fired back and forth until a unique
out-of-court settlement was reached: Dmitri, a retired race car
driver and opera singer, agreed to the publication of an English
translation of the novel on the condition that it be accompanied by a
preface—written by himself. He trashes it.
Even today, the school for scandal has not let out. Its general
focus has changed, however—from the post-history of _Lolita_, with
its adaptations and appropriations, to its pre-history and
precursors. This began in 1985 with the re-publication of the
anonymous memoir of a Ukrainian pedophile. Nabokov's letters testify
to his having read in the years before he wrote _Lolita_ the
anonymous memoirs of a Ukrainian pedophile published as an appendix
to the French edition of Havelock Ellis's _Studies in Psychology of
Sex_ (fearing the English public's reaction, Ellis had withheld it
from the earlier English edition). Several passionate Nabokovians
claimed—on scant evidence—that herein lay an important inspiration
for Nabokov's book. More recent, and far more perplexing, is German
literary scholar Michael Maar's uncovering last year a long-forgotten
German short story pseudonymously authored by a Hessian aristocrat in
1916 (Nabokov and his family moved to Berlin in 1920). The compact
tale brims with doubles, delirium, and pedophilia—and is entitled
"Lolita" (for more on this curious matter, see Maar's _The Two
Lolitas, _out from Verso this month). And in another twist in the
search for _Lolita'_s origins, Australian author Joanne Morgan's
_Solving Nabokov's Lolita Riddle_ (Cosynch Press, 2005) is, by her
own description, "a code-cracking book" that "proves that Nabokov
wrote Lolita as a semi-autobiographical account of his own terrible
sexual abuse as a boy at the hands of his molesting, pedophilic Uncle
Ruka."
When Nabokov died in 1977, he left behind an unfinished novel
entitled _The Original of Laura. _His express wish was that it be
destroyed upon his death. Before him, Virgil and Kafka had left
similar instructions; neither was obeyed. Nor was Nabokov. His wife,
VĂ©ra, found herself unable to carry out her late husband's wishes,
and when she passed away in 1991 she bequeathed the decision to their
son. The manuscript's location is kept secret.
If Nabokov's wishes are to be respected, _The Original of Laura
_will never be read by any but the few intimates who have already
done so. As to the original of _Lolita_, no such special precautions
need be taken. The original of _Lolita_ is not the story of a Hessian
aristocrat, just as little as it is the memoir of an anonymous
Ukrainian, or the author's improbable molestation at the fumbling
hands of his uncle. To search for the experiences leading to a work
of art is as natural as not finding them. But ultimately, the
original of _Lolita_ is something we do not know and will never know,
and is nothing other than the perfectly private movements of the mind
of her creator. That the result should have proved so surprising is
of the order of things. As a character in _Lolita_ remarks_, _"A
great work of art is of course always original, and thus by its very
nature should come as a more or less shocking surprise."
-------------------------
_Leland de la Durantaye is an assistant professor of English and
American literature and language at Harvard University._
Links:
------
[1] http://www.villagevoice.com/
[2] http://www.villagevoice.com/
[3] http://www.villagevoice.com/books/0537,essay,67720,10.html
[4] http://www.villagevoice.com/generic/books
----- End forwarded message -----