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Fw: Nabokov and Kawabata
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----- Original Message -----
From: Akiko Nakata
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Dear Arthur Glass,
I also doubt that VN was interested in Japanese literature. Most of his references to Japan are negative.
I have no idea whether or not Kawabata read Nabokov, but I think he possibly did--at least *Lolita*. The Japanese translation of *Lolita* was published in 1959 creating a sensation, and the theme of pedophilia must be attractive to Kawabata. He could read the novel also in English, if he would. Some of his characters are pedophiliac, as
Григорий Чхартишвили ( Grigorii Chkhartishvili) finds a HH-to-be in the nice young protagonist of "The Dancing Girl of Izu." It might be interesting to compare *Lolita* and "House of the Sleeping Beauties" by means of necrophilia. I am sorry, but I cannot be much help. I think Yuichi Isahaya, who kindly sent me the short essay by Чхартишвили, probably knows better.
Best wishes,
Akiko Nakata
(Join us for: http://www10.plala.or.jp/transparentt/happy.html)