Subject
Thinking of LOLITA in Ashland, Ore
From
Date
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From our special correspondent in Ashland --
D. Barton Johnson <Lcobo@aol.com>
Nabokovians,
As you may recall I am vacationing in Ashland, Oregon and staying at
163 Mead St. where the Nabokovs spent a couple of summer months in the early
fifties. (For details and pictures, see my piece on the house on ZEMBLA.)
The weather being foul, I decided to reread LOLITA -- for the first
time in several years. While I cannot pretend that the ghost of VN provided
any special insights, I have jotted down some random thoughts below -- all
startling in their triviality. In VN's postscript, "On a Book Entitled
LOLITA," he traces the history of LOLITA's composition beginning in Ithaca,
circa 1949. The writing suffered many interruptions and proceeded
slowly.
During the summers VN and Vera went on butterfly collecting expeditions in
the far west. Ashland, Oregon was one of their longer stopping places.
There "... LOLITA was energetically resumed on in the evenings or on cloudy
days."
Test Questions
1. What were HH's and Charlotte's preferred drinks?
2. Trace the dog motif and comment on its significance.
----------
Notes.
1. In his febrile final pursuit of Lo and then Quilty, HH seems to be losing
his English (as well as his mind). NB "Feeling I was losing my time...." &
"On second thoughts..." Comments?
2. I notice that Part II, 33 describes a murder disguised as a car wreck ---
the G. Edward Grammar case that Appel, I think, identifies as being from a
contemporary newspaper account. This faintly echoes the recently excavated
Tetzner case that served VN as a prototype for the plot of DESPAIR.
3. In that same chapter it is mentioned in passing that it is 1000 miles
from Kasbeam to Elphinstone, Colorado (both fictional). This fits in well
with a theory I have advanced that Lolita's hometown of Pisky (just fifty
miles from Kasbeam)
is in Indiana, thus making Lolita a fellow Hoosier.
D. Barton Johnson <Lcobo@aol.com>
Nabokovians,
As you may recall I am vacationing in Ashland, Oregon and staying at
163 Mead St. where the Nabokovs spent a couple of summer months in the early
fifties. (For details and pictures, see my piece on the house on ZEMBLA.)
The weather being foul, I decided to reread LOLITA -- for the first
time in several years. While I cannot pretend that the ghost of VN provided
any special insights, I have jotted down some random thoughts below -- all
startling in their triviality. In VN's postscript, "On a Book Entitled
LOLITA," he traces the history of LOLITA's composition beginning in Ithaca,
circa 1949. The writing suffered many interruptions and proceeded
slowly.
During the summers VN and Vera went on butterfly collecting expeditions in
the far west. Ashland, Oregon was one of their longer stopping places.
There "... LOLITA was energetically resumed on in the evenings or on cloudy
days."
Test Questions
1. What were HH's and Charlotte's preferred drinks?
2. Trace the dog motif and comment on its significance.
----------
Notes.
1. In his febrile final pursuit of Lo and then Quilty, HH seems to be losing
his English (as well as his mind). NB "Feeling I was losing my time...." &
"On second thoughts..." Comments?
2. I notice that Part II, 33 describes a murder disguised as a car wreck ---
the G. Edward Grammar case that Appel, I think, identifies as being from a
contemporary newspaper account. This faintly echoes the recently excavated
Tetzner case that served VN as a prototype for the plot of DESPAIR.
3. In that same chapter it is mentioned in passing that it is 1000 miles
from Kasbeam to Elphinstone, Colorado (both fictional). This fits in well
with a theory I have advanced that Lolita's hometown of Pisky (just fifty
miles from Kasbeam)
is in Indiana, thus making Lolita a fellow Hoosier.