Vladimir Nabokov

NABOKV-L post 0001502, Tue, 3 Dec 1996 11:03:32 -0800

Subject
Re: teen readers (fwd)
Date
Body
From: Robert Aldwinckle c/o <gragb@showme.missouri.edu>

>As someone, and I am sure not the only someone in this group, who as a teen
>was reading books "far beyond my years" I am offended by the ageist and
>puritanical attitude of this remark. Being chronologically challenged does
>not necessarily imply a lack of comprehension and maturity far beyond many
>people of greater years. I think encouraging bright and intellectually
>curious youth to expand their horizons and discover new writers and thought
>is the responsibility of all, whether they be academics or just parents,
>relatives or friends.


I should think that anyone who uses verbal and conceptual
monstrosities of the "ageist" and "chronologically challenged" order IN
JEST is too green to read Nabokov, irrespective of age. If, on the other
hand, one says that IN EARNEST, one will hardly profit from any serious
reading, whether one's intellectual challenge is chronic or temporary.

Robert Aldwinckle