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Re: I'll take that Euro
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John M: your points well taken. Re-Evison’s “youth,” I suppose that’s
relative ― he’s just HALF my age, bless his damp ears! I’ve not read Lulu or
any Evison, and made no judgment thereon; but I can still detect unfair
criticism, especially what appeared to be a contradiction: “damned” for
“VN-derivation” and “double-damned” for failing to follow VN’s “moral
compass.” Lulu’s plot/ambience is sufficiently different from Lolita’s and
Ada’s that it seems rather fruitless to push comparisons and tabulate
“influences.”
IF IF you feel that novels about evil-doings and doers MUST spell out the
moral deficiencies (perhaps, Hayes-coded, by ensuring relentless, just
punishment, lest the reader imagine that evil is being promoted!) then Lulu
would appear as “morally anaerobic,” and as, queer, say, as a Clockwork
Orange?
Is there a Nabokovian consensus here? How explicit the SERMONIZING?
PS: Someone objected to your use of “morally anaerobic” on the misguided
over-literate grounds that “books don’t provide oxygen” (I paraphrase from
memory). I find the metaphor quite attractive.
Skb
On 12/08/2008 22:52, "John Minervini" <john.minervini@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> Mr. Powelstock.
>
> I find it very interesting that you recommend me an intertext without having
> read the text itself (Evison's Lulu).
>
> As a matter of fact, I'll take that euro.
>
> I admit that Will Miller (Evison's protagonist) is arguably as much like Van
> Veen as he is like Humbert Humbert. However Lulu doesn't resemble Ada Veen in
> the least. Ada is haughty, intelligent and articulate―above all, she consents
> to her eventual sexual relationship with Van. For goodness' sake, she helps
> write the book.
>
> Evison's Lulu, on the other hand, is fractured, sentimental and helpless.
> Largely voiceless, she is a child, much like Dolores Haze is a child, being
> wrecked by the lusts of a family member.
>
> So even though Will and Lulu are coevals, the configuration of their
> relationship much more closely mimics that of Humbert and Lolita than that of
> Van and Ada.
>
> Mr. Kelly-Bootle.
>
> First. Evison, age 39, isn't as young as you might think. He has been
> writing screen plays and radio shows for most of his adult life.
>
> As regards Humbert's remorse: my criticism was not that Will (Evison's
> protagonist) should, like Humbert, feel shame. Rather, I merely suggest that
> Will's actions should be considered in their moral dimension. As it stands,
> the book is morally anaerobic, which (I think) is irresponsible.
>
> As regards being derivative: I have no trouble with Evison's borrowing or
> writing in a mould - but he needs, at least, to add something original,
> something of interest, differentiate himself. He does not.
>
> John Minervini
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>> From: David Powelstock <pstock@BRANDEIS.EDU>
>> Date: August 8, 2008 10:41:28 AM EDT
>> To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
>> Subject: Re: [NABOKV-L] borrowed from Vladimir Nabokov¹s Loli ta ...
>> Reply-To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
>>
>> Well said, SKB. Let me add that you can find concrete dinosaurs not quite in
>> the middle of, but certainly at the edge of, the desert outside of Los
>> Angeles. Is California quirky? You bet. As SKB suggests, with polite
>> restraint, given the plot of Lulu, Ada would probably be a more likely
>> intertext. I'll bet anyone a Euro that the reviewer hasn't read Ada. And
>> the reviewer's bald statement that "Humbert Humbert narrates Lolita out of
>> deepest shame for what he did to an innocent girl " is certainly open to
>> debate. I haven't read Evison's novel, but I certainly wouldn't let this
>> superficial review dissuade me from cracking it open up!
>>
>> David Powelstock
>>
>> From: Vladimir Nabokov Forum [mailto:NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU] On Behalf Of
>> Stan Kelly-Bootle
>> Sent: Friday, August 08, 2008 8:35 AM
>>
>> To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
>> Subject: Re: [NABOKV-L] borrowed from Vladimir Nabokov¹s Lolita ...
>>
>>> Am I alone in finding this review unsatisfactory?
>>>
>>>
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relative ― he’s just HALF my age, bless his damp ears! I’ve not read Lulu or
any Evison, and made no judgment thereon; but I can still detect unfair
criticism, especially what appeared to be a contradiction: “damned” for
“VN-derivation” and “double-damned” for failing to follow VN’s “moral
compass.” Lulu’s plot/ambience is sufficiently different from Lolita’s and
Ada’s that it seems rather fruitless to push comparisons and tabulate
“influences.”
IF IF you feel that novels about evil-doings and doers MUST spell out the
moral deficiencies (perhaps, Hayes-coded, by ensuring relentless, just
punishment, lest the reader imagine that evil is being promoted!) then Lulu
would appear as “morally anaerobic,” and as, queer, say, as a Clockwork
Orange?
Is there a Nabokovian consensus here? How explicit the SERMONIZING?
PS: Someone objected to your use of “morally anaerobic” on the misguided
over-literate grounds that “books don’t provide oxygen” (I paraphrase from
memory). I find the metaphor quite attractive.
Skb
On 12/08/2008 22:52, "John Minervini" <john.minervini@GMAIL.COM> wrote:
> Mr. Powelstock.
>
> I find it very interesting that you recommend me an intertext without having
> read the text itself (Evison's Lulu).
>
> As a matter of fact, I'll take that euro.
>
> I admit that Will Miller (Evison's protagonist) is arguably as much like Van
> Veen as he is like Humbert Humbert. However Lulu doesn't resemble Ada Veen in
> the least. Ada is haughty, intelligent and articulate―above all, she consents
> to her eventual sexual relationship with Van. For goodness' sake, she helps
> write the book.
>
> Evison's Lulu, on the other hand, is fractured, sentimental and helpless.
> Largely voiceless, she is a child, much like Dolores Haze is a child, being
> wrecked by the lusts of a family member.
>
> So even though Will and Lulu are coevals, the configuration of their
> relationship much more closely mimics that of Humbert and Lolita than that of
> Van and Ada.
>
> Mr. Kelly-Bootle.
>
> First. Evison, age 39, isn't as young as you might think. He has been
> writing screen plays and radio shows for most of his adult life.
>
> As regards Humbert's remorse: my criticism was not that Will (Evison's
> protagonist) should, like Humbert, feel shame. Rather, I merely suggest that
> Will's actions should be considered in their moral dimension. As it stands,
> the book is morally anaerobic, which (I think) is irresponsible.
>
> As regards being derivative: I have no trouble with Evison's borrowing or
> writing in a mould - but he needs, at least, to add something original,
> something of interest, differentiate himself. He does not.
>
> John Minervini
>
> Begin forwarded message:
>> From: David Powelstock <pstock@BRANDEIS.EDU>
>> Date: August 8, 2008 10:41:28 AM EDT
>> To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
>> Subject: Re: [NABOKV-L] borrowed from Vladimir Nabokov¹s Loli ta ...
>> Reply-To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
>>
>> Well said, SKB. Let me add that you can find concrete dinosaurs not quite in
>> the middle of, but certainly at the edge of, the desert outside of Los
>> Angeles. Is California quirky? You bet. As SKB suggests, with polite
>> restraint, given the plot of Lulu, Ada would probably be a more likely
>> intertext. I'll bet anyone a Euro that the reviewer hasn't read Ada. And
>> the reviewer's bald statement that "Humbert Humbert narrates Lolita out of
>> deepest shame for what he did to an innocent girl " is certainly open to
>> debate. I haven't read Evison's novel, but I certainly wouldn't let this
>> superficial review dissuade me from cracking it open up!
>>
>> David Powelstock
>>
>> From: Vladimir Nabokov Forum [mailto:NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU] On Behalf Of
>> Stan Kelly-Bootle
>> Sent: Friday, August 08, 2008 8:35 AM
>>
>> To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
>> Subject: Re: [NABOKV-L] borrowed from Vladimir Nabokov¹s Lolita ...
>>
>>> Am I alone in finding this review unsatisfactory?
>>>
>>>
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/