Subject
Re: borrowed from Vladimir Nabokov¹s Lolita ...
From
Date
Body
> Am I alone in finding this review unsatisfactory? Any modern novelist writing
> about "under-age" sex can hardly avoid _some_ (possibly a lot of) influence
> from VN's Lolita; ditto with "incest" and Ada. Evison is slated as
> "derivative" at one stage, yet blamed later in the review because Will shows
> none of H-H's remorse. Yet in 'All about Lulu,' Will and Lulu start cavorting
> at the _same_ age (10), and presumably, absent a time-dilation space-trip,
> remain the _same_ age throughout. The nature of H-H's adult exploitation/ruin
> of Lol, and Will's of his stepsister share some common physical/moral aspects,
> but are surely different enough to explain the many plot divergences.
> Constrast too H-H the European Prof., and Will the unversed country boy.
> Insofar as Evison's _style_ is inspired by VN's, that's to be praised. Updike
> and others have been similarly motivated; they may never match the master, but
> name a better role-model. Let's not use "derivative" as a curse, belittling a
> young writer early in his career.
>
> Mixed feelings too about the meaning/relevance of that subjective "quirk." We
> do inhabit a cosmos which manages to surprise us well beyond our literary
> creations. Body-building identical twins? Not seen in _every_ gym, but hardly
> a "quirk." Cricket fans will know of the Bedser twins (identical) both capped
> for England.
>
> skb
>
>
> TOME RAIDER: All About Lulu
>
> Six-word Summary: Quirk for quirk¹s sake? I¹ll pass.
>
> There is a frustrating tendency in contemporary American fiction to use quirk
> as a cure-all. Having trouble developing your characters? Give them strange
> idiosyncrasies. Don¹t know where to take your plot? Try something weird.
>
> To my mind, quirkiness is the literary equivalent of a seasoning. Added to the
> right book, it helps to draw out themes and distinguish certain characters.
> But even the best salt won¹t improve mediocre ingredients.
>
> One wishes that author Jonathan Evison had spent more time on the dish itself
> and less time seasoning it. His debut novel, All About Lulu (Soft Skull, 338
> pages, $14.95), features a plot and key themes essentially borrowed from
> Vladimir Nabokov¹s Lolita. And even copious amounts of quirkfor instance a
> pair of bodybuilding twin brothers and a concrete Brontosaurus in the middle
> of the desertfail to cover this essentially derivative story.
>
> The Plot: Introduced at the age of 10, stepsiblings Will and Lulu quickly form
> an unhealthy attachmentshe is his goddess; he is her worshiper. For a few
> years, they succeed in playing doctor behind the backs of their unsuspecting
> family, but at the age of 15, Lulu balks at the incest and attempts to isolate
> herself from William. As you might expect, he won¹t let her go, and over the
> next 10 years his relentless pursuit essentially wrecks her.
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/
> about "under-age" sex can hardly avoid _some_ (possibly a lot of) influence
> from VN's Lolita; ditto with "incest" and Ada. Evison is slated as
> "derivative" at one stage, yet blamed later in the review because Will shows
> none of H-H's remorse. Yet in 'All about Lulu,' Will and Lulu start cavorting
> at the _same_ age (10), and presumably, absent a time-dilation space-trip,
> remain the _same_ age throughout. The nature of H-H's adult exploitation/ruin
> of Lol, and Will's of his stepsister share some common physical/moral aspects,
> but are surely different enough to explain the many plot divergences.
> Constrast too H-H the European Prof., and Will the unversed country boy.
> Insofar as Evison's _style_ is inspired by VN's, that's to be praised. Updike
> and others have been similarly motivated; they may never match the master, but
> name a better role-model. Let's not use "derivative" as a curse, belittling a
> young writer early in his career.
>
> Mixed feelings too about the meaning/relevance of that subjective "quirk." We
> do inhabit a cosmos which manages to surprise us well beyond our literary
> creations. Body-building identical twins? Not seen in _every_ gym, but hardly
> a "quirk." Cricket fans will know of the Bedser twins (identical) both capped
> for England.
>
> skb
>
>
> TOME RAIDER: All About Lulu
>
> Six-word Summary: Quirk for quirk¹s sake? I¹ll pass.
>
> There is a frustrating tendency in contemporary American fiction to use quirk
> as a cure-all. Having trouble developing your characters? Give them strange
> idiosyncrasies. Don¹t know where to take your plot? Try something weird.
>
> To my mind, quirkiness is the literary equivalent of a seasoning. Added to the
> right book, it helps to draw out themes and distinguish certain characters.
> But even the best salt won¹t improve mediocre ingredients.
>
> One wishes that author Jonathan Evison had spent more time on the dish itself
> and less time seasoning it. His debut novel, All About Lulu (Soft Skull, 338
> pages, $14.95), features a plot and key themes essentially borrowed from
> Vladimir Nabokov¹s Lolita. And even copious amounts of quirkfor instance a
> pair of bodybuilding twin brothers and a concrete Brontosaurus in the middle
> of the desertfail to cover this essentially derivative story.
>
> The Plot: Introduced at the age of 10, stepsiblings Will and Lulu quickly form
> an unhealthy attachmentshe is his goddess; he is her worshiper. For a few
> years, they succeed in playing doctor behind the backs of their unsuspecting
> family, but at the age of 15, Lulu balks at the incest and attempts to isolate
> herself from William. As you might expect, he won¹t let her go, and over the
> next 10 years his relentless pursuit essentially wrecks her.
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/