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Re: odd moment in Lolita? (fwd) (fwd)
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------------------ Hello, Don and Brian
There was a question raised concerning a "throw-away line in Lolita", on
the issue of HH´s frankly admitting Lo´s teasing on "the hotel where you
raped me" and "mature reasoning".
In my opinion, this would not be a "throw-away line" since Lolita deals
with lots of other themes and this is why I´d never even imagine that
arguments such as M.Maar´s or the Hayes missive ( the Irish Lolita
connection) carried any weight. The theme of adult/child seduction/rape was
first described by VN in " The Enchanter", but it is also mentioned in "The
Gift" in connection to something in Zina´s childhood ( I have not time to
check the quotations, and if I remember correctly, most of them appear as a
sort of foot-note ) and its structural importance for the development of the
plot varies in every novel.
I suggest that in "Lolita" we would rather find attempts to elaborate on
the elements that turn a perverse fantasy into a pervert act ( such as
Lolita´s "rape" ) instead of aiming at the description of the pervert acts.
Jansy
----- Original Message -----
From: "D. Barton Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2004 1:19 PM
Subject: odd moment in Lolita? (fwd)
> ------------------ In Part II in the last paragraph of chapter 13 of
> _Lolita_, there is to my mind one of the oddest, almost throw-away lines
in
> the whole novel, where Lolita queries (teases?) HH about the name of the
> hotel they stayed in (this is during the period she is rehearsing the
play,
> The Hunted Enchanters, named after the hotel) and refers to it as 'the
hotel
> where you raped me'. You almost have to wonder that HH isn't imagining
> these words, because they seem to reveal a strangely mature psychology,
and
> because most of the sexual action is referred o so tangentially. Just my
> cod-Freudian take on this. Any thoughts?
>
> Brian
>
>
>
> ---------- End Forwarded Message ----------
>
>
>
> D. Barton Johnson
> NABOKV-L
>
>
---------- End Forwarded Message ----------
D. Barton Johnson
NABOKV-L
There was a question raised concerning a "throw-away line in Lolita", on
the issue of HH´s frankly admitting Lo´s teasing on "the hotel where you
raped me" and "mature reasoning".
In my opinion, this would not be a "throw-away line" since Lolita deals
with lots of other themes and this is why I´d never even imagine that
arguments such as M.Maar´s or the Hayes missive ( the Irish Lolita
connection) carried any weight. The theme of adult/child seduction/rape was
first described by VN in " The Enchanter", but it is also mentioned in "The
Gift" in connection to something in Zina´s childhood ( I have not time to
check the quotations, and if I remember correctly, most of them appear as a
sort of foot-note ) and its structural importance for the development of the
plot varies in every novel.
I suggest that in "Lolita" we would rather find attempts to elaborate on
the elements that turn a perverse fantasy into a pervert act ( such as
Lolita´s "rape" ) instead of aiming at the description of the pervert acts.
Jansy
----- Original Message -----
From: "D. Barton Johnson" <chtodel@gss.ucsb.edu>
To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Sent: Tuesday, July 06, 2004 1:19 PM
Subject: odd moment in Lolita? (fwd)
> ------------------ In Part II in the last paragraph of chapter 13 of
> _Lolita_, there is to my mind one of the oddest, almost throw-away lines
in
> the whole novel, where Lolita queries (teases?) HH about the name of the
> hotel they stayed in (this is during the period she is rehearsing the
play,
> The Hunted Enchanters, named after the hotel) and refers to it as 'the
hotel
> where you raped me'. You almost have to wonder that HH isn't imagining
> these words, because they seem to reveal a strangely mature psychology,
and
> because most of the sexual action is referred o so tangentially. Just my
> cod-Freudian take on this. Any thoughts?
>
> Brian
>
>
>
> ---------- End Forwarded Message ----------
>
>
>
> D. Barton Johnson
> NABOKV-L
>
>
---------- End Forwarded Message ----------
D. Barton Johnson
NABOKV-L