Re: Lolita's Story To Be Printed in US

Camille Scaysbrook (verona_beach@geocities.com)
Fri, 18 Jun 1999 20:03:55 +1000 

Hey, what is it about Salinger fans and Nabokov bashing? Is it because
Salinger's writing is based so firmly on truth and Nabokov's so firmly on
artifice? I know that does rub a lot of people the wrong way - as does the
fact that Nabokov himself was a pretty nasty old specimen (but then again
so perhaps is JDS - depending on who you ask). But a weak writer? That is
one thing he could never be called. Even in his weakest moments I find his
work like the plainitive wail of a cello - resonant, deep and bewitching,
no matter how hollow the instrument from which it emanates. He was truly a
craftsperson. However, I will concede that Nabokov - like Salinger - is
firmly in the category of love-or-hate. It's just always a shame to see
something you love being hated by others. I will have to agree with Chris
and point out the fact that you can admire the craftsmanship of the painter
even if you don't like his works.

P.S. You were right about the new movie though. It stunk like last week's
leftovers. (:

Camille
verona_beach@geocities.com
@ THE ARTS HOLE http://www.geocities.com/Hollywood/Theater/6442
@ THE INVERTED FOREST http://www.angelfire.com/pa/invertedforest


Paul Kennedy wrote:
> It must be my vicarious excitement about Rick and Mirjam.  There's no
other
> possible explanation for the uncharacteristic behaviour that I'm about to
> exhibit.  Who ever thought that me, myself and I would be contributing to
a
> Nabokov thread?  But here goes:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> >Is anyone interested in reading this rip-off, er, I mean, book?
> >
> >--- Jim Rovira <jrovira@juno.com> wrote:
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> 
> Frankly, I find it hard to believe that anybody in the world is
interested
> in reading the original.  It stinks!  (My sincere apologies for the use
of
> such elevated language to describe such a piece of dog pooh.... Why don't
I
> just come out and say what I really think?)
> 
> Give me Anna Karenina any day!  (....or, given the bowl within which we
all
> swim, "Si vous avez reellement envie d'entendre cette histoire, la
premiere
> chose que vous voudrez sans doute savoir c'est ou je suis ne, ce que fut
mon
> enfance pourrie et ce que faisaient mes parents et tout avant de m'avoir,
> enfin toute cette salade a la David Copperfield, mais a vous parler
> franchement je ne me sens guere dispose a entrer dans tout ca....")
> 
> Now, I know I'm probably stepping on a few tender dorsal fins, here in
the
> bananafish bowl.  And I hope it doesn't instantly brand me as some sort
of
> Yahoo.  But I found Lolita to be an offensive bore when I first read it
> many, many years ago--around about the same time that Lindy Fast and I
read
> Terry Southern's Candy on the floor of Lindy's parents' house, while a
wild
> teenage party raged on around us.... But that's another story....
> 
> I hated the old movie.  You won't find me darkening the door of any
cinema
> that's screening the new one--despite Jeremy Irons' protestations that
it's
> 'art'.... ('though I will defend to the death--well, not quite, but
> almost--every cinema's right to show it!)
> 
> Read the Russians, for sure.  But forget these modern guys.  Nabokov is
> almost embarassingly weak.  He couldn't pick up Dostoyevsky's quill pen
if
> he tried.  And Solzhenitzen is a joke in contemporary Russia.  Try
Tolstoy!
> Check out Chekov!!  Leave the literary creations of the Cold War out in
the
> cold, where they belong.
> 
> Cheers,
> 
> Paul
> 
> 
> >> 
> >> 
> >> Lolita's Story To Be Printed in US
> >> 
> >> .c The Associated Press
> >> 
> >>  NEW YORK (AP) - A retelling of ``Lolita'' from the
> >> nymphet's point of
> >> view 
> >> will be published in the United States under an
> >> agreement with author 
> >> Vladimir Nabokov's son, who had called the new book
> >> a rip-off.
> >> 
> >> Under the deal with new publisher Foxrock Inc.,
> >> Dmitri Nabokov will write
> >> a 
> >> preface, and author Pia Pera will write an afterword
> >> to the
> >> English-language 
> >> U.S. edition. Both will receive 5 percent of
> >> royalties from the edition,
> >> The 
> >> New York Times reported today.
> >> 
> >> In November, publisher Farrar, Straus & Giroux had
> >> settled a copyright 
> >> infringement lawsuit filed by Dmitri Nabokov by
> >> canceling plans to
> >> publish 
> >> ``Lo's Diary'' this summer.
> >> 
> >> The book, published in Italy and several other
> >> countries, can now be 
> >> published in Britain and is set for an October U.S.
> >> publishing date.
> >> 
> >> The agreement also protects the copyright interests
> >> of Dmitri Nabokov in
> >> his 
> >> late father's book, which has sold 50 million copies
> >> in 20 languages.
> >> 
> >> But because there was no legal ruling, the question
> >> of how far authors
> >> can go 
> >> in using characters and scenes created by others
> >> remains unresolved.
> >> 
> >> In her book, Ms. Pera, 42, parodies Nabokov's story
> >> of a middle-age
> >> professor 
> >> sexually obsessed with a 12-year-old girl, writing
> >> the tale from the
> >> child's 
> >> point of view.
> >> 
> >> The lawsuit to block U.S. and British publication of
> >> ``Lo's Diary'' was
> >> filed 
> >> in Manhattan federal court in October.
> >> 
> >> The suit claimed the book is ``inferior and
> >> amateurish merchandise'' that
> >> 
> >> tarnishes the reputation of Nabokov's original work.
> >> ``Lolita,''
> >> published in 
> >> the United States in 1955 by Random House, is
> >> protected under copyright
> >> until 
> >> 2050.
> >> 
> >> AP-NY-06-17-99 0954EDT
> >> 
> >>  Copyright 1999 The Associated Press.  The
> >> information  contained in the
> >> AP 
> >> news report may not be published,  broadcast,
> >> rewritten or otherwise 
> >> distributed without  prior written authority of The
> >> Associated Press. 
> >> 
> >>  
> >> 
> >> To edit your profile, go to keyword <A 
> >> HREF="aol://1722:NewsProfiles">NewsProfiles
> >> </A>.
> >> For all of today's news, go to keyword <A
> >> HREF="aol://1722:News">News</A>.
> >> 
> >> --part1_495759bf.249a77b1_boundary--
> >> --------- End forwarded message ----------
> >> 
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