Subject
Re: REPLY re: Humbert's address
From
Date
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On 23/1/08 16:19, "Logan Norris" <loganmnorris@YAHOO.COM> wrote:
>
> In relation to the question of how Lolita knew Humbert's address, Lolita had
> kept in contact with Mona in the screenplay version in the book. Mona had
> corresponded with Lolita and Lolita probably knew already through Mona that
> Humbert was still at Beardsley (in the screenplay). Mona would have still
> been going to the girls school at the time, assuming she was Lolita's age,
> perhaps Humbert's mail was forwarded from his Beardsley mailbox to his
> current address--and Mona knew this? Or perhaps Nabokov created this story
> to suggest a contact theory like the Farlow one. I'm not sure how college
> mailing systems work, but perhaps that might lead to something.
>
> And one other thing, in the chapter where Humbert receives Dolly's letter,
> he mentions two other pieces of mail. The one that interests me momentarily
> is the letter from Rita's mother, "a crazy little woman, whom we had visited
> on Cape Cod and who kept writing me to my various addresses" (Annotated
> Lolita pg 265). How was she following Humbert's address? It was not through
> either Beardsley or Farlow, so there had to be another way. And perhaps
> these two instances (Rita's mother and Lo) are connected in method.
>
> Logan Norris
>
> I must confess to mixed feelings over this hunt to fill in perceived 'gaps' in
> VN's narratives. We accept that letters reached X from Y as part of the
> essential plot-line. We don't accuse VN of lying, do we, although we know he
> 'made up' the whole story with sufficiently convincing 'realistic' backprops,
> as novelists are inclined to do for this particular genre. Had 'Lolita' ended
> with HH 'walking' as his prison melted away (cf Invitation to a Beheading), we
> would not be questioning the physical implausibilities.
> The genre would have changed, and so would our reading.
>
> In the case of the glorious US Mail, anyone who has moved about the States a
> bit (I know I have) will be familiar with the standard forwarding arrangements
> via a change-of-address request.
>
> https://moversguide.usps.com/?referral=USPS
>
> But I'm not even offering this as a possible solution. Others have listed
> alternatives. I'm happy to accept that letters reached X from Y without VN
> spelling out the inessential methodology. No Laws of Physics have been
> violated!
>
> On the other hand, the near-zero, real-world probability that Mrs HH should be
> killed in such a well-timed auto accident -- deus ex MACHINA, literally --
> that surely stretches VN's credibility. In the nicest way!
>
> PS: I'm reminded of Sherlock Holmes fans who check the train time-tables and
> postal-delivery schedules. "I think you'll find that Doyle was mistaken. The
> 10:30am from Paddington to Bristol was cancelled on May 21st, 1891"
>
> Stan Kelly-Bootle
>
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>
> In relation to the question of how Lolita knew Humbert's address, Lolita had
> kept in contact with Mona in the screenplay version in the book. Mona had
> corresponded with Lolita and Lolita probably knew already through Mona that
> Humbert was still at Beardsley (in the screenplay). Mona would have still
> been going to the girls school at the time, assuming she was Lolita's age,
> perhaps Humbert's mail was forwarded from his Beardsley mailbox to his
> current address--and Mona knew this? Or perhaps Nabokov created this story
> to suggest a contact theory like the Farlow one. I'm not sure how college
> mailing systems work, but perhaps that might lead to something.
>
> And one other thing, in the chapter where Humbert receives Dolly's letter,
> he mentions two other pieces of mail. The one that interests me momentarily
> is the letter from Rita's mother, "a crazy little woman, whom we had visited
> on Cape Cod and who kept writing me to my various addresses" (Annotated
> Lolita pg 265). How was she following Humbert's address? It was not through
> either Beardsley or Farlow, so there had to be another way. And perhaps
> these two instances (Rita's mother and Lo) are connected in method.
>
> Logan Norris
>
> I must confess to mixed feelings over this hunt to fill in perceived 'gaps' in
> VN's narratives. We accept that letters reached X from Y as part of the
> essential plot-line. We don't accuse VN of lying, do we, although we know he
> 'made up' the whole story with sufficiently convincing 'realistic' backprops,
> as novelists are inclined to do for this particular genre. Had 'Lolita' ended
> with HH 'walking' as his prison melted away (cf Invitation to a Beheading), we
> would not be questioning the physical implausibilities.
> The genre would have changed, and so would our reading.
>
> In the case of the glorious US Mail, anyone who has moved about the States a
> bit (I know I have) will be familiar with the standard forwarding arrangements
> via a change-of-address request.
>
> https://moversguide.usps.com/?referral=USPS
>
> But I'm not even offering this as a possible solution. Others have listed
> alternatives. I'm happy to accept that letters reached X from Y without VN
> spelling out the inessential methodology. No Laws of Physics have been
> violated!
>
> On the other hand, the near-zero, real-world probability that Mrs HH should be
> killed in such a well-timed auto accident -- deus ex MACHINA, literally --
> that surely stretches VN's credibility. In the nicest way!
>
> PS: I'm reminded of Sherlock Holmes fans who check the train time-tables and
> postal-delivery schedules. "I think you'll find that Doyle was mistaken. The
> 10:30am from Paddington to Bristol was cancelled on May 21st, 1891"
>
> Stan Kelly-Bootle
>
Search the archive: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/archives/nabokv-l.html
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