----- Original Message -----
Sent: Wednesday, May 05, 2004 5:56 PM
Subject: Fw: fritillaries
I´ve always been amazed at the
frequency with which the names Vladimir Nabokov and Lolita pop up in the
media. It seems that VN became a daily presence all over the
globe.
I wonder if the "Lolita
lights" ( by Swarovski´s ) have been inspired in VN´s book: there are many
Lolitas who might not even have heard of "ours". I remember an American/Caribean
song of the early sixties crying "Lola, Lolita" in a refrain and from what
I vaguely remember of it, there´s no direct reference to VN in
it.
But here is a VN
sighting which I tried to translate from the Portuguese text:
" It´s cold. Vladimir Nabokov sits in a park at the
margin of the Oredej river, underneath a beech tree from where he can see a
lilac bush covered by flitting fritillaria with pearly borders on their blue
wings. The light of the sunset floats on the gray water. Vladimir Nabokov
sighs. He dips his pen in the ink bottle and writes the story of the love
between two children".
"Tormentos Ocasionais", Bernadette Lyra.
Ed. Companhia das
Letras, 1998.
Best,
Jansy