Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0011883, Thu, 15 Sep 2005 18:42:20 -0700

Subject
Fwd: Lolita and Dracula
Date
Body
EDNOTE. Interesting thought. I am reading a perfectly vile mega-novel that is #3
(?) on the New York Times bestseller list----something called "The Historian"
that is an update of the Dracula tale. Like LOLITA, the dracula legend owes
much of its ubiquity to movie versions.
---------------------------------------------------------

----- Forwarded message from mary@krimmel.net -----
Date: Thu, 15 Sep 2005 18:06:46 -0700
From: Mary Krimmel <mary@krimmel.net>
Reply-To: Mary Krimmel <mary@krimmel.net>
Subject: Lolita and Dracula
To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum

I wonder whether Lolita
could be a possible "other fictional work that has had such a
pervasive influence on a whole culture"?
----------------------------------------------

Miller's speech, from which I excerpted the paragraph below, can be
foundathttp://www.ucs.mun.ca/~emiller/rwbdinn.htm

[The following was presented as an after-dinner speech for members
ofthe President's Council on Opening Night of the Royal Winnipeg
Ballet'sworld premiere of "Dracula" on 21 October,1997.] by
Elizabeth Miller

First published in 1897, the novel _Dracula_ by Irish author
BramStoker has never been out of print. It has been reissued in over
300editions, including dozens in foreign languages. The figure of
CountDracula has dominated twentieth-century culture, from movies to
cerealboxes, from Sesame Street to the Royal Winnipeg Ballet. The
novel hasinspired prequels, sequels and numerous adaptations,
including a"Little Dracula" series for pre-schoolers with such
intriguingtitles as "Little Dracula Goes to School", "Little
Draculaat the Seashore" and "Little Dracula's First Bite".That
asingle novel, given only scant attention at the time of
publicationshould have had such an impact is nothing short of
phenomenal. In fact, Icannot think of another fictional work that has
had such a pervasiveinfluence on a whole culture as has this one.

----- End forwarded message -----