Subject
Mr. Gilmore's letters re Nabokov to the TLS and "Lichbergism"?
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Date
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EDNOTE.
Brian Gilmore published the following Letter to the Editor in the (London)
Times Literary Supplement of May 28, 2004.
--------------------------------------------------
Nabokov in Ireland?
28 May 2004, p. 17
Sir, - I send this by way of a footnote to the correspondence on Lolita
(most recently, May 7). In the 1960s, when he had read my copy of the book,
my father was convinced that the author was the Russian student whom he had
spoken to us about.During the summer months his family took in guests into
their home in the Burren near the village of Quilty. On many occasions he
had told us of a student from Cambridge who had stayed for a week or so in
the early 1920s and had come to net butterflies, which activity had caused
amazement. Sadly, because of the rain the poor visitor was frustrated at
having to spend so much time indoors. My father's boast was of having
defeated a Russian at chess. He was convinced however that the student must
have been Nabokov because the name of the character Clare Quilty was the
address of their house at Quilty, County Clare.
BRIAN GILMORE 5 Maneagha Court, Corcomroe, County Clare.
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EDCOMMENT. Today (the 27th anniversary of VN's death) Ludger Tolksdorf
<L.Tolksdorf@gmx.de> sent NABOKV-L a copy of a follow-up Letter to the
Editor from Mr. Gilmore the TLS issue dated today:
---------- Forwarded Message ----------
Date: Friday, July 02, 2004 11:44 PM +0200
From: Ludger Tolksdorf <L.Tolksdorf@gmx.de>
To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Subject: TLS letter re Lolita
From this week's letters to the editor of the TLS:
'Vladdie'
Sir, -- You published a letter of conjecture from me (May 28) which I
have now come to regret because it has so upset my aunt (my late
fathers sister), who is an elderly lady. I had been quite unaware that
the putative identity of their Russian guest in the 1920s had been a
source of conflict within the family. Aunt Lottie (Mrs C. Hayes) has
requested that I write the following clarification. She rejects totally
the suggestion that the student she knew could have written that
perverse book, Lolita. Although a girl of only eleven years at the
time, she participated in the guest-house duties and vividly remembers
the Cambridge student and bringing him breakfast in his room (her
bedroom in the off season). She says that she was thrilled when
Vladdie invited her to join him on his butterfly expeditions and that
he was most appreciative of her assistance. She wants me to emphasize
that he was the epitome of propriety and correct behaviour. She had a
serious row with her brother (my father) when he made those scandalous
allegations and imputations, adding that he was nothing but a
scoundrel and a blackguard.
I would be most grateful if you would publish this corrective letter as
my aunt has threatened to strike me from her will.
BRIAN GILMORE
5 Maneagha Court, Corcomroe, County Clare.
http://www.the-tls.co.uk/letters/
---------------------------------------------
EDCOMMENT. One notes that Mr. Gilmore terms his first letter (May 28) as "a
footnote to the correspondence on LOLITA (most recently, May 7)". He
refers here to Michael Maar's vigorous response to a TLS Letter to the
Editor by Dieter Zimmer gently eviscerating Dr. Maar's recent article
arguing that Nabokov's LOLITA contained significant echoes of a long
forgotten German story called "Lolita" by one Heinz von Lichberg. In the
latter a German tourist in Spain makes love to the innkeeper's young
daughter. Could Brian Gilmore's letters be yet another offshoot of this
literary episode?
D. Barton Johnson
NABOKV-L
---------- End Forwarded Message ----------
D. Barton Johnson
NABOKV-L
--------------------------------------------------------
EDNOTE.
Brian Gilmore published the following Letter to the Editor in the (London)
Times Literary Supplement of May 28, 2004.
--------------------------------------------------
Nabokov in Ireland?
28 May 2004, p. 17
Sir, - I send this by way of a footnote to the correspondence on Lolita
(most recently, May 7). In the 1960s, when he had read my copy of the book,
my father was convinced that the author was the Russian student whom he had
spoken to us about.During the summer months his family took in guests into
their home in the Burren near the village of Quilty. On many occasions he
had told us of a student from Cambridge who had stayed for a week or so in
the early 1920s and had come to net butterflies, which activity had caused
amazement. Sadly, because of the rain the poor visitor was frustrated at
having to spend so much time indoors. My father's boast was of having
defeated a Russian at chess. He was convinced however that the student must
have been Nabokov because the name of the character Clare Quilty was the
address of their house at Quilty, County Clare.
BRIAN GILMORE 5 Maneagha Court, Corcomroe, County Clare.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
EDCOMMENT. Today (the 27th anniversary of VN's death) Ludger Tolksdorf
<L.Tolksdorf@gmx.de> sent NABOKV-L a copy of a follow-up Letter to the
Editor from Mr. Gilmore the TLS issue dated today:
---------- Forwarded Message ----------
Date: Friday, July 02, 2004 11:44 PM +0200
From: Ludger Tolksdorf <L.Tolksdorf@gmx.de>
To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Subject: TLS letter re Lolita
From this week's letters to the editor of the TLS:
'Vladdie'
Sir, -- You published a letter of conjecture from me (May 28) which I
have now come to regret because it has so upset my aunt (my late
fathers sister), who is an elderly lady. I had been quite unaware that
the putative identity of their Russian guest in the 1920s had been a
source of conflict within the family. Aunt Lottie (Mrs C. Hayes) has
requested that I write the following clarification. She rejects totally
the suggestion that the student she knew could have written that
perverse book, Lolita. Although a girl of only eleven years at the
time, she participated in the guest-house duties and vividly remembers
the Cambridge student and bringing him breakfast in his room (her
bedroom in the off season). She says that she was thrilled when
Vladdie invited her to join him on his butterfly expeditions and that
he was most appreciative of her assistance. She wants me to emphasize
that he was the epitome of propriety and correct behaviour. She had a
serious row with her brother (my father) when he made those scandalous
allegations and imputations, adding that he was nothing but a
scoundrel and a blackguard.
I would be most grateful if you would publish this corrective letter as
my aunt has threatened to strike me from her will.
BRIAN GILMORE
5 Maneagha Court, Corcomroe, County Clare.
http://www.the-tls.co.uk/letters/
---------------------------------------------
EDCOMMENT. One notes that Mr. Gilmore terms his first letter (May 28) as "a
footnote to the correspondence on LOLITA (most recently, May 7)". He
refers here to Michael Maar's vigorous response to a TLS Letter to the
Editor by Dieter Zimmer gently eviscerating Dr. Maar's recent article
arguing that Nabokov's LOLITA contained significant echoes of a long
forgotten German story called "Lolita" by one Heinz von Lichberg. In the
latter a German tourist in Spain makes love to the innkeeper's young
daughter. Could Brian Gilmore's letters be yet another offshoot of this
literary episode?
D. Barton Johnson
NABOKV-L
---------- End Forwarded Message ----------
D. Barton Johnson
NABOKV-L