No Thanks, Mr. Nabokov

[Johnny Marr]

I was considering Lolita earlier this morning. A lot of critics praise
Nabokov's 'unnerving' ability to make us emphasise with Numbert Humbert's
attraction to Dolores. Personally I find no such empathy; she's only
presented as a gormless bratty 12 year old who he happens to lust after in a
very deluded fashion. Typical of Nabokov's inability to show any
sensitivity.
As for the prose, I found it strangely variable: some of it ranks among the
greatest I've read (describing her playing tennis, describing her
'accidentally' fallen across his knee) but some his hideously clunky. I find
that Nabokov is fantastic at descriptions but weak at metaphors.

On 9/12/07, David Morris <fqmorris at gmail.com> wrote:
>
> On 9/12/07, Richard Ryan <richardryannyc at yahoo.com> wrote:
> >
> > No taste for Pale Fire, eh?
>
> Pale Fire was OK, but really more a mystery/puzzle than a novel.  It
> aims at the head, not the heart (and, no, I was not moved by the
> suicide story on the surface of the story).  If others hadn't cracked
> open the puzzel for me I would never have "got" it.
>
> David Morris
>
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