Stan Kelly-Bootle: Lalit[h]a (literally, ‘she who plays’) is an ancient,
still revered, line of Hindu goddesses variously representing divine Womanhood
and Female Bliss. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lalita_sahasranama...Is
there a particular reason, beyond coincidental spellings, for finding the
aceno (gesture) to VN? That’s a
long anachronistic stretch from ancient Lalit[h]a to VN’s modern
Lolita...If you seek more VN coincidences based on names with L’s, T’s and
I’s...
JM: Lee Siegel's
"Lalita" is explicitly connected to Nabokov by the author.
In relation to Franzen's "Lalitha" I only
have the aceno made by William
Deresiewicz, whose article I mentioned as a sighting.
Beautiful reference to Lilith as a
"beautiful woman, who transforms into a blue, butterfly-like demon." It
would be fun to compare this information to Nabokov's (Sirin)
poem Lilith.