J.Aisenberg: I think I prefer Alfred
Appel Jr.'s test for pornography [...] I read Ms. Prose's article and thought
she seriously underestimated the amount of sleazy sex in the book [...]Now I
agree the book isn't smut--neither Nabokov or Humbert do much to describe
penetration or lavish direct colloquial attention on specific genital reactions
[...] Also if you keep your focus on all the filth Humbert lets fly, it
compromises somewhat Humbert Humbert's confession as "love story", which in my
opine-ion the book is not.
JM: HH was insane - but he
remains a fictional character and not a clinical case-study. In VN's
fiction HH suffers ups-and-downs and, once in a while, he has moments of
lucidity ( when the filthy part is transformed into something different).
His most disturbing fantasies were, for
me, his project for engendering a series of Fritzli-babies,
a litter of Lolitas. Horribly pervert.
What do you mean by "smut" in relation to
"penetration" and "lavish colloquial attention on specific genital
reactions"?
There are many unclear issues connected to what
is "smut": VN was indignant against Joyce's obscenely detailed
renderings of defaecation(SO interviews), although, as far as I can
still recollect any of them, they didn't involve or violate other
people, nor were they unnatural but,
predominantly, physiological. VN's descriptions of solitary practices mainly deal
with voyeurism, anality, mirrors ( there's a KQK scene that
is reminiscent of the same thing in Gradus...) Genitality is quite explicit in "The Enchanter" (his
developments about "bliss"are beautiful!) and ADA (
including an almost poetical anal-penetration in a
bathroom).
Anyway, Baudelaire, Verlaine, Artaud,
Lautreamont, Bataille must have been familiar authors to Nabokov. And
generations before and after them (Ben Sirine must know!) - plus all
his readings from Havelock Ellis, Kraft-Ebbing...
We seldom discuss such matters: is this why Ms.Pose and
others (including me) often forget all about them? (I'm trying to figure out how important VN's "erotic" scenes are
for me - considering the overall landscape of his
novels...)