Alexey Sklyarenko: Forgot to mention that Sacher-Masoch's
best-known novel was Venus in Furs (1870). Cf. "Both young ladies wore the very short and open evening
gowns that Vass 'miraged' that season - in the phrase of that season:
Ada, a gauzy black, Lucette, a lustrous cantharid green... Mixed metaphors and and double-talk became all three
Veens, the children of Venus." While Ada and
Lucette, two daughters of Venus, revel with Van in Ursus, their furs
are "locked up in the vault or somewhere."
(3.8) A self-correction: "In the
days of yore [a whale swallowed Jonah]" would better render the
yawn in the Russian phrase "Vo vremya ono".
JM: Direct or indirect
allusions to the names of Sade and Sacher-Masoch may not be abundant
throughout Nabokov's works, but sado-masochistic elements are pervasive
( along with other non-copulatory perversions, such as references
to voyeurism, onanism, fountainism...).
Except for a few drawings, there's not
much I know about the Japanese Maruo, whose shocking epresentation
of Lolita-like girls under torture came to my attention a few days ago.
If, among philosophers, scholars and
literateurs Nabokov's humanistic preoccupation is emphasized, in
contrast to his character's cruelty and perversion (Cf.Rorty,
Quennell...), Nabokov's novels seems to affect lay-readers differently,
paraticularly by those intent on exploring its sado-masochistic
dimension ( there are, of course, no academic pincers nor authorial
yawns!)
I tried to google for more
information that would link Maruo to Nabokov. I reached only one site
in English,but could not access any mentioon to Nabokov (as mentioned
in the first google-entry, along with Lovecraft and Nellidan) although
inside it, there was a participant's inquiry, under "Recommendations
for Nabokov readings" : "Other than seeing the film version of
"Lolita", I haven't had much exposure to Nabokov's writings. I'm
wondering if anyone has recommendations on where to start, especially
for someone with Ligottian tastes. Seems like Nabokov has a large
oeuvre, so I'm not sure which end of the pool to dive in - are the
short stories worthwhile?"
There's a story about a soldier who wanted to find pornographic
titillations in "Lolita" and threw the book aside after a few dips,
exclaming:"This is only licherachure..." Indeed: no Nabokov novel falls
under the stereotype label for a pornographic novel, which often
includes sado-masochistic sex. However, in Nabokov, we often come
accross instances of other kinds of cruelty and violence that pertain
to the sado-masochistic spectrum. We find them in a few Nabokov's
short-stories, Laughter in the Dark, KQKn, Despair, Ada, TOoL but, over
all of these, it is the dominant feature in "Lolita." (& not in "
TheEnchanter"!)