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Re: Nabokov and Twelve-Year-Old Girls ...
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Well,some readers do indeed seem to be so seduced. It is a beautiful
passage, and as I said it has its own validity, not just as VN's poetry but as
his invention of Humbert's poetical-moral true -- but fleeting -- perception
of the "hearts of children outshining" him, as you beautifully put it.
But, as Brian Boyd points out, one just has to consider the chronology. Then
the truth becomes devastating. It is indeed aesthetically and morally naive
to think that this passage, that "Humbert" has so carefully placed,
"redeems" him, as a number of people have claimed, thereby falling into the trap
that Nabokov has had Humbert lay for them. The novel is surely a moral and
aesthetic test, devised by Nabokov to distinguish the good reader and
re-reader from, among others, the sentimental one. No wonder he wrote: "I believe
that one day a reappraiser will come and declare that, far from being a
frivolous firebird, I was a rigid moralist kicking sin, cuffing stupidity,
ridiculing the vulgar and cruel -- and assigning sovereign power to
tenderness, talent, and pride." (Strong Opinions, 1973, p. 193.)
Anthony Stadlen
"Oakleigh"
2A Alexandra Avenue
GB - London N22 7XE
Tel.: +44 (0) 20 8888 6857
Email: stadlen@aol.com
Founder (in 1996) and convenor of the Inner Circle Seminars: an ethical,
existential, phenomenological search for truth in psychotherapy
See
"Existential Psychotherapy & Inner Circle Seminars" at
_http://anthonystadlen.blogspot.com/_ (http://anthonystadlen.blogspot.com/) for programme of
future Inner Circle Seminars and complete archive of past seminars
In a message dated 24/02/2012 02:35:23 GMT Standard Time,
stevenorquist@GMAIL.COM writes:
But what is the reader "ruthlessly exposed" to, his own naivete? And is
the reader "seduced" into believing such a "baboon" can be so easily
redeemed? As a reader, I don't hear Humbert in the passage, but the poetry of VN on
the hearts of children outshining the Humberts of a monstrous world.
On Wed, Feb 22, 2012 at 8:24 AM, Anthony Stadlen <_STADLEN@aol.com_
(mailto:STADLEN@aol.com) > wrote:
In a message dated 22/02/2012 14:19:47 GMT Standard Time, _Rsgwynn1@CS.COM_
(mailto:Rsgwynn1@CS.COM) writes:
Does Humbert ultimately receive some moment of Grace? I like to think he
has, as he sits overlooking and overhearing the children near the end of
the novel. It does move in a mysterious way, its wonders to perform.
Brian Boyd has long ago pointed to Nabokov's brilliance and insight in
having Humbert seductively place this passage just where it is near the end of
his narrative. Nabokov ruthlessly exposes readers who are seduced by the
rhetoric of a child-rapist and murderer. This does not mean that Humbert's
fleeting insight had no validity, but it was fleeting, and he did not have
the integrity to act on it.
Anthony Stadlen
Anthony Stadlen
"Oakleigh"
2A Alexandra Avenue
GB - London N22 7XE
Tel.: _+44 (0) 20 8888 6857_ (tel:+44%20(0)%2020%208888%206857)
Email: _stadlen@aol.com_ (mailto:stadlen@aol.com)
Founder (in 1996) and convenor of the Inner Circle Seminars: an ethical,
existential, phenomenological search for truth in psychotherapy
See "Existential Psychotherapy & Inner Circle Seminars" at
_http://anthonystadlen.blogspot.com/_ (http://anthonystadlen.blogspot.com/) for programme
of future Inner Circle Seminars and complete archive of past seminars
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passage, and as I said it has its own validity, not just as VN's poetry but as
his invention of Humbert's poetical-moral true -- but fleeting -- perception
of the "hearts of children outshining" him, as you beautifully put it.
But, as Brian Boyd points out, one just has to consider the chronology. Then
the truth becomes devastating. It is indeed aesthetically and morally naive
to think that this passage, that "Humbert" has so carefully placed,
"redeems" him, as a number of people have claimed, thereby falling into the trap
that Nabokov has had Humbert lay for them. The novel is surely a moral and
aesthetic test, devised by Nabokov to distinguish the good reader and
re-reader from, among others, the sentimental one. No wonder he wrote: "I believe
that one day a reappraiser will come and declare that, far from being a
frivolous firebird, I was a rigid moralist kicking sin, cuffing stupidity,
ridiculing the vulgar and cruel -- and assigning sovereign power to
tenderness, talent, and pride." (Strong Opinions, 1973, p. 193.)
Anthony Stadlen
"Oakleigh"
2A Alexandra Avenue
GB - London N22 7XE
Tel.: +44 (0) 20 8888 6857
Email: stadlen@aol.com
Founder (in 1996) and convenor of the Inner Circle Seminars: an ethical,
existential, phenomenological search for truth in psychotherapy
See
"Existential Psychotherapy & Inner Circle Seminars" at
_http://anthonystadlen.blogspot.com/_ (http://anthonystadlen.blogspot.com/) for programme of
future Inner Circle Seminars and complete archive of past seminars
In a message dated 24/02/2012 02:35:23 GMT Standard Time,
stevenorquist@GMAIL.COM writes:
But what is the reader "ruthlessly exposed" to, his own naivete? And is
the reader "seduced" into believing such a "baboon" can be so easily
redeemed? As a reader, I don't hear Humbert in the passage, but the poetry of VN on
the hearts of children outshining the Humberts of a monstrous world.
On Wed, Feb 22, 2012 at 8:24 AM, Anthony Stadlen <_STADLEN@aol.com_
(mailto:STADLEN@aol.com) > wrote:
In a message dated 22/02/2012 14:19:47 GMT Standard Time, _Rsgwynn1@CS.COM_
(mailto:Rsgwynn1@CS.COM) writes:
Does Humbert ultimately receive some moment of Grace? I like to think he
has, as he sits overlooking and overhearing the children near the end of
the novel. It does move in a mysterious way, its wonders to perform.
Brian Boyd has long ago pointed to Nabokov's brilliance and insight in
having Humbert seductively place this passage just where it is near the end of
his narrative. Nabokov ruthlessly exposes readers who are seduced by the
rhetoric of a child-rapist and murderer. This does not mean that Humbert's
fleeting insight had no validity, but it was fleeting, and he did not have
the integrity to act on it.
Anthony Stadlen
Anthony Stadlen
"Oakleigh"
2A Alexandra Avenue
GB - London N22 7XE
Tel.: _+44 (0) 20 8888 6857_ (tel:+44%20(0)%2020%208888%206857)
Email: _stadlen@aol.com_ (mailto:stadlen@aol.com)
Founder (in 1996) and convenor of the Inner Circle Seminars: an ethical,
existential, phenomenological search for truth in psychotherapy
See "Existential Psychotherapy & Inner Circle Seminars" at
_http://anthonystadlen.blogspot.com/_ (http://anthonystadlen.blogspot.com/) for programme
of future Inner Circle Seminars and complete archive of past seminars
_Google Search the archive_
(http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en) _Contact the Editors_
(mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu) _Visit "Nabokov Online Journal"_
(http://www.nabokovonline.com/) _Visit Zembla_
(http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm) _View Nabokv-L Policies_ (http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm)
_Manage subscription options_ (http://listserv.ucsb.edu/) _Visit
AdaOnline_ (http://www.ada.auckland.ac.nz/) _View NSJ Ada Annotations_
(http://vnjapan.org/main/ada/index.html) _Temporary L-Soft Search the archive_
(https://listserv.ucsb.edu/lsv-cgi-bin/wa?A0=NABOKV-L&X=58B9943B29972AFF64&Y=nabokv-
l@utk.edu)
All private editorial communications are read by both co-editors.
--
Norky
_Google Search the archive_
(http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en) _Contact the Editors_
(mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu) _Visit "Nabokov Online Journal"_
(http://www.nabokovonline.com/) _Visit Zembla_
(http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm) _View Nabokv-L Policies_ (http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm)
_Manage subscription options_ (http://listserv.ucsb.edu/) _Visit AdaOnline_
(http://www.ada.auckland.ac.nz/) _View NSJ Ada Annotations_
(http://vnjapan.org/main/ada/index.html) _Temporary L-Soft Search the archive_
(https://listserv.ucsb.edu/lsv-cgi-bin/wa?A0=NABOKV-L&X=58B9943B29972AFF64&Y=nabokv-l@utk
.edu)
All private editorial communications are read by both co-editors.
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/