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Fw: Fw: Patricia Highsmith and Lolita's road trip
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Mark Bennett" <mab@straussandasher.com>
>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (72
lines) ------------------
> I'm no literary scholar, but wouldn't the picaresque be a subcategory of
the
> "quest", so to speak? Some of the most ancient literature we have relates
> the tale of the hero's journey to a far land, and the adventures the
befell
> him or them along the way: The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Odyssey, The Aneied,
> the Pentateuch, many of the Sagas, etc. It seems that people have been
"on
> the road," and writing about it, for a long time. And I wholly agree that
> it is very curious that any immigrant should write one of the
> quintessentially "American" novels, but that is exactly what VN did. The
> achievement is quite amazing, but, of course, the readers of this list
would
> probably need no convincing of that. Apparently VN netted the whole
country
> during those yearly butterfly hunts, and pinned it to the board in Lolita.
> I've always been particularly impressed with Charlotte: VN absolutely
NAILS
> her character, which, while perhaps universal in form, is as American as
> April in Arizona in its details. How did he do it? Lo' makes a little
more
> sense, but where did VN meet Lotte's prototypes? Was it during his
reading
> tours of women's book clubs, described by Brian Boyd? If so, it speaks
> volumes for VN's powers of observation that from these brief encounters he
> obtained the information necessary to make it appear, in the creation of
> Charlotte Haze, that he had been around such women all his life.
> Remarkable.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: D. Barton Johnson [mailto:chtodel@cox.net]
> Sent: Friday, December 12, 2003 3:46 PM
> To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> Subject: Fw: Fw: Patricia Highsmith and Lolita's road trip
>
>
> EDNOTE. The "road novel" exchange set me to musing. My first thought was
> that it was a major AMERICAN ( or primarily so) genre probably connected
> with the early predominance of the car in U.S. life. And how curious that
> one of its preeminent examplars would be by a Russian emigre to the U.S.
> That aspect of LOLITA derived of course from VN's butterfly expeditions
west
> (driven by Vera). The Nabokovs never had a car in Europe and always
> travelled by train. I suspect a set if subdefinitions are in order.
> Subcategory of the picaresque? Quixote? Gogol's Dead Souls?
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Mark Bennett" <mab@straussandasher.com>
> To: "'Vladimir Nabokov Forum'" <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> >
> > ----------------- Message requiring your approval (29
> lines) ------------------
> > If the definition is stretched but a little, even "Huckleberry Finn"
> > and "Moby Dick" might be described as "road novels"
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > > ----------------- Message requiring your approval (16
> > lines) ------------------
> > > Dear Don and List,
> > >
> > > There must be thousands of "road novels," and hundreds with roadside
> > > culture and motels in them. When cornered, even Rabbit Angstrom took
> > > to
> > the
> > > road, like Kerouac and Cassady. There are probably dozens of
> > "transgressive
> > > sex road novels." Movies too; one thinks of "Easy Rider," "Sugarland
> > > Express," or "Thelma and Louise." After all, in the USA, where's the
> > > only place you can go when your dirty secret forces you to get out
> > > of town? I believe that Patricia Highsmith could never have been
> > > VN's muse -- not
> > even
> > > as Yolande Kickshaw!
> > >
> > > Regards,
> > >
> > > Tom (Rymour)
> > >
> > >
>
From: "Mark Bennett" <mab@straussandasher.com>
>
> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (72
lines) ------------------
> I'm no literary scholar, but wouldn't the picaresque be a subcategory of
the
> "quest", so to speak? Some of the most ancient literature we have relates
> the tale of the hero's journey to a far land, and the adventures the
befell
> him or them along the way: The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Odyssey, The Aneied,
> the Pentateuch, many of the Sagas, etc. It seems that people have been
"on
> the road," and writing about it, for a long time. And I wholly agree that
> it is very curious that any immigrant should write one of the
> quintessentially "American" novels, but that is exactly what VN did. The
> achievement is quite amazing, but, of course, the readers of this list
would
> probably need no convincing of that. Apparently VN netted the whole
country
> during those yearly butterfly hunts, and pinned it to the board in Lolita.
> I've always been particularly impressed with Charlotte: VN absolutely
NAILS
> her character, which, while perhaps universal in form, is as American as
> April in Arizona in its details. How did he do it? Lo' makes a little
more
> sense, but where did VN meet Lotte's prototypes? Was it during his
reading
> tours of women's book clubs, described by Brian Boyd? If so, it speaks
> volumes for VN's powers of observation that from these brief encounters he
> obtained the information necessary to make it appear, in the creation of
> Charlotte Haze, that he had been around such women all his life.
> Remarkable.
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: D. Barton Johnson [mailto:chtodel@cox.net]
> Sent: Friday, December 12, 2003 3:46 PM
> To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> Subject: Fw: Fw: Patricia Highsmith and Lolita's road trip
>
>
> EDNOTE. The "road novel" exchange set me to musing. My first thought was
> that it was a major AMERICAN ( or primarily so) genre probably connected
> with the early predominance of the car in U.S. life. And how curious that
> one of its preeminent examplars would be by a Russian emigre to the U.S.
> That aspect of LOLITA derived of course from VN's butterfly expeditions
west
> (driven by Vera). The Nabokovs never had a car in Europe and always
> travelled by train. I suspect a set if subdefinitions are in order.
> Subcategory of the picaresque? Quixote? Gogol's Dead Souls?
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: "Mark Bennett" <mab@straussandasher.com>
> To: "'Vladimir Nabokov Forum'" <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> >
> > ----------------- Message requiring your approval (29
> lines) ------------------
> > If the definition is stretched but a little, even "Huckleberry Finn"
> > and "Moby Dick" might be described as "road novels"
> >
> >
> >
> >
> > > ----------------- Message requiring your approval (16
> > lines) ------------------
> > > Dear Don and List,
> > >
> > > There must be thousands of "road novels," and hundreds with roadside
> > > culture and motels in them. When cornered, even Rabbit Angstrom took
> > > to
> > the
> > > road, like Kerouac and Cassady. There are probably dozens of
> > "transgressive
> > > sex road novels." Movies too; one thinks of "Easy Rider," "Sugarland
> > > Express," or "Thelma and Louise." After all, in the USA, where's the
> > > only place you can go when your dirty secret forces you to get out
> > > of town? I believe that Patricia Highsmith could never have been
> > > VN's muse -- not
> > even
> > > as Yolande Kickshaw!
> > >
> > > Regards,
> > >
> > > Tom (Rymour)
> > >
> > >
>