Subject
Re: Fwd: Re: BIBLIOGRAPHY: Nabokov's Lolita Riddle by Joanne
Morgan
Morgan
From
Date
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I have only just joined the list and noticed the comments made by Don
>> Johnson and Jansy Berndt de Sousa Mello re my recently published
>> book 'Solving Nabokov's Lolita Riddle' (2005).
>>
>> Firstly, thank you for your response to George Shimanovich, Don. I'm
afraid
>> I didn't know quite what to say to George myself, as his comments
appeared
>> to be quite personal.
>>
>> Secondly re comments made by Jansy - can I just say that Nabokov did
quite
>> explicitly say that he had put a riddle in Lolita. (I am not making this
>> up.) He did so when interviewed by BBC TV in 1962 and later, when
>> interviewed by Alvin Toffler for Playboy magazine in 1964. While many
>> people (scholars, Nabokov readers/fans etc) may recoil in horror at the
>> idea of Nabokov pulling such a disastrous gender-bending trick in Lolita,
>> it is also important to keep in mind that Nabokov was fascinated by the
>> cosmic vibrations attached to 'fatidic dates.' In his memoirs he noted in
>> particular that he shared the birth date April 23 with that gender-
bending
>> playwright William Shakespeare, as well as Shirley Temple. In his
>> posthumously published 'review' article "On Conclusive Evidence" Nabokov
>> also stated (and I quote):
>>
>> "One cannot but respect the amount of retrospective acumen and creative
>> concentration that the author had to summon in order to plan his book
>> according to the way his life had been planned by unknown players of
games,
>> and never to swerve from that plan."
>>
>> In the 'quibbling Gnostic' answer he gave to Toffler about God, Nabokov
>> also insisted that he knew more than he was able to express - this
suggests
>> that the author was privy to information about his hidden moral project
>> that he did not (or was not able) to share with the public at large.
>>
>> Can I just say, also, that my book is very much concerned with child
>> protection. It attempts to cast further insight into
Humbert's 'affliction'
>> by integrating scientific insights into the distorted realities
experienced
>> by pedophiles - in particular their propensity to see children as
>> intentional 'seducers.' I believe that within Lolita Nabokov was trying
to
>> warn about this kind of solipsistic reality - a reality that he was
himself
>> trapped by as a boy.
>>
>> I would urge people on the list to have a read of my book before jumping
to
>> too many conclusions. My website is meant merely to remind the public
about
>> Nabokov's largely forgotten Lolita riddle, to analyse his Wonderland
chess
>> duel against Lewis Carroll (whose primary aim is to protect the pawn-
child
>> from being 'queened' or molested at the end of the board by the
incestuous
>> black knight) and to provide supportive documentation (scans) re
Nabokov's
>> ingenious strategy of confessional and highly deliberate 'Freudian
slips.'
>> The website reflects only small aspects of my entire research.
>>
>> Jo Morgan
>
>
>
----- End forwarded message -----
>> Johnson and Jansy Berndt de Sousa Mello re my recently published
>> book 'Solving Nabokov's Lolita Riddle' (2005).
>>
>> Firstly, thank you for your response to George Shimanovich, Don. I'm
afraid
>> I didn't know quite what to say to George myself, as his comments
appeared
>> to be quite personal.
>>
>> Secondly re comments made by Jansy - can I just say that Nabokov did
quite
>> explicitly say that he had put a riddle in Lolita. (I am not making this
>> up.) He did so when interviewed by BBC TV in 1962 and later, when
>> interviewed by Alvin Toffler for Playboy magazine in 1964. While many
>> people (scholars, Nabokov readers/fans etc) may recoil in horror at the
>> idea of Nabokov pulling such a disastrous gender-bending trick in Lolita,
>> it is also important to keep in mind that Nabokov was fascinated by the
>> cosmic vibrations attached to 'fatidic dates.' In his memoirs he noted in
>> particular that he shared the birth date April 23 with that gender-
bending
>> playwright William Shakespeare, as well as Shirley Temple. In his
>> posthumously published 'review' article "On Conclusive Evidence" Nabokov
>> also stated (and I quote):
>>
>> "One cannot but respect the amount of retrospective acumen and creative
>> concentration that the author had to summon in order to plan his book
>> according to the way his life had been planned by unknown players of
games,
>> and never to swerve from that plan."
>>
>> In the 'quibbling Gnostic' answer he gave to Toffler about God, Nabokov
>> also insisted that he knew more than he was able to express - this
suggests
>> that the author was privy to information about his hidden moral project
>> that he did not (or was not able) to share with the public at large.
>>
>> Can I just say, also, that my book is very much concerned with child
>> protection. It attempts to cast further insight into
Humbert's 'affliction'
>> by integrating scientific insights into the distorted realities
experienced
>> by pedophiles - in particular their propensity to see children as
>> intentional 'seducers.' I believe that within Lolita Nabokov was trying
to
>> warn about this kind of solipsistic reality - a reality that he was
himself
>> trapped by as a boy.
>>
>> I would urge people on the list to have a read of my book before jumping
to
>> too many conclusions. My website is meant merely to remind the public
about
>> Nabokov's largely forgotten Lolita riddle, to analyse his Wonderland
chess
>> duel against Lewis Carroll (whose primary aim is to protect the pawn-
child
>> from being 'queened' or molested at the end of the board by the
incestuous
>> black knight) and to provide supportive documentation (scans) re
Nabokov's
>> ingenious strategy of confessional and highly deliberate 'Freudian
slips.'
>> The website reflects only small aspects of my entire research.
>>
>> Jo Morgan
>
>
>
----- End forwarded message -----