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Re: LOlithophanic note
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Lolita: (H.H) "Alas, I was unable to transcend the simple human fact that whatever spiritual solace I might find, whatever lithophanic eternities might be provided for me, nothing could make my Lolita forget the foul lust I had inflicted upon her."
JM: A.Stadlen has called our attention to VN's position in relation to the Catholic Church ( when he noted that there would be no immortality, except art, for HH's sinning soul).
Humbert Humbert's contrition concerning the damage he inflicted on Lolita seems to be sincere [unlike Austrian Josef Fritzl's boast in the media that, since he might have killed abused daughter and grandchildren unbeknownst to the police, but he didn't, this proves "he is no monster". In many countries pedophiles are not severly punished: a few years in prison, at most].
HH's self-condemnation, though, is not totally unambiguous in his lithophanic sentence. We can be certain that he doesn't find "spiritual solace" in any promise of heavenly pardon via priests but it is not clear, judging from his wording, that he considers that even God's forgiveness is not enough to redeem his soul. Otherwise I would be certain that VN humanly wished to damn to hell every abusing father, mother and "nymphobottomic" uncle, both in fiction and in real life.
BTW: In Bend Sinister the meaning of "oversize ardors" is very clear. Would this interpretation be also valid for "Ada, or Ardor"?
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JM: A.Stadlen has called our attention to VN's position in relation to the Catholic Church ( when he noted that there would be no immortality, except art, for HH's sinning soul).
Humbert Humbert's contrition concerning the damage he inflicted on Lolita seems to be sincere [unlike Austrian Josef Fritzl's boast in the media that, since he might have killed abused daughter and grandchildren unbeknownst to the police, but he didn't, this proves "he is no monster". In many countries pedophiles are not severly punished: a few years in prison, at most].
HH's self-condemnation, though, is not totally unambiguous in his lithophanic sentence. We can be certain that he doesn't find "spiritual solace" in any promise of heavenly pardon via priests but it is not clear, judging from his wording, that he considers that even God's forgiveness is not enough to redeem his soul. Otherwise I would be certain that VN humanly wished to damn to hell every abusing father, mother and "nymphobottomic" uncle, both in fiction and in real life.
BTW: In Bend Sinister the meaning of "oversize ardors" is very clear. Would this interpretation be also valid for "Ada, or Ardor"?
Search the archive: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/archives/nabokv-l.html
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