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Fw: Fw: Fw: Fw: Patricia Highsmith and Lolita's road trip
From
Date
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----- Original Message -----
From: "Dane Gill" <pennyparkerpark@hotmail.com>
To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Sent: Monday, December 15, 2003 3:36 PM
Subject: RE: Fw: Fw: Fw: Patricia Highsmith and Lolita's road trip
> This message was originally submitted by pennyparkerpark@HOTMAIL.COM
to the
> NABOKV-L list at LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU. If you simply forward it back to the
list,
> using a mail command that generates "Resent-" fields (ask your local
user
> support or consult the documentation of your mail program if in doubt), it
will
> be distributed and the explanations you are now reading will be
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> automatically. If on the other hand you edit the contributions you receive
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> a digest, you will have to remove this paragraph manually. Finally, you
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> function of your mail program.
>
> ---------------- Message requiring your approval (178
lines) ------------------
> As much as many of the secondary characters fit into a "type", VN was also
> very adament about their individuallity, their uniqueness ( ie Charlotte's
> very real human response sans social fakeness when discovering HH's diary)
> and that nothing of their character is set in stone, their futures cannot
be
> predicted. He even gives warning against doing so (in reference to
Farlow):
>
> Whatever evolution this or that popular character has gone through between
> the book covers, his fate is fixed for them. Thus X will never compose the
> immortal music that would clash with the second-rate symphonies he has
> accustomed us to.. Y will never commit murder. Under no circumstances can
Z
> ever betray us. We have it arranged in our minds, and the less often we
see
> a particular person the more satisfying it is to check how obediently he
> conforms to our notion of him every time we hear of him. Any deviation in
> the fates we have ordained would strike us as not only anomalous but
> unethical. We would prefer not to have known at all our neighbor, the
> retired hot-dog stand operator, if it turns out he has just produced the
> greatest book of poetry his age has seen.
> - Lolita p.265
> Dane Gill
>
>
> >From: "D. Barton Johnson" <chtodel@cox.net>
> >Reply-To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> >To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> >Subject: Fw: Fw: Fw: Patricia Highsmith and Lolita's road trip
> >Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2003 15:21:23 -0800
> >
> >----- Original Message -----
> >From: "Mark Bennett" <mab@straussandasher.com>
> > >
> > > ---------------- Message requiring your approval (136
> >lines) ------------------
> > > Absolutely. And the Farlows as well. And Mona: haven't we all known
a
> > > Mona, or two, at school? The characters are superbly drawn
throughout.
> >But
> > > something about Charlotte has always seemed extraordinary to me. I'm
> >sure
> > > someone has pointed this out before, but Charlotte seems to haunt
Lolita
> >in
> > > much the same way that Hazel Shade haunts Pale Fire (well, actually,
HH
> > > does.) To me, that is one of the things that makes HH's final meeting
> >with
> > > pregnant Lo so moving: I believe HH begins to realize that he really
did
> > > love Charlotte, after his fashion, but was deceived in this, as in so
> >many
> > > other things, because had been sketching the bars of his cage to the
> > > exclusion of all else.
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: D. Barton Johnson [mailto:chtodel@cox.net]
> > > Sent: Monday, December 15, 2003 12:47 PM
> > > To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> > > Subject: Fw: Fw: Fw: Patricia Highsmith and Lolita's road trip
> > >
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: "Stringer-Hye, Suellen" <suellen.stringer-hye@vanderbilt.edu>
> > > To: "Vladimir Nabokov Forum" <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> > > Sent: Monday, December 15, 2003 12:20 PM
> > > Subject: Re: Fw: Fw: Patricia Highsmith and Lolita's road trip
> > >
> > > >
> > > > ---------------- Message requiring your approval (112
> > > lines) ------------------
> > > > or how about Humbert's girlfriend Rita, always outside but fatally
> > > > drawn to Grainball City or Rita's Norman Vincent Peal brother for
whom
> > > > everything is "great"? These two always seem almost preternaturally
> > > > observed to me.
> > > >
> > > > --On Monday, December 15, 2003 10:33 AM -0800 "D. Barton Johnson"
> > > > <chtodel@cox.net> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > > From: "Mark Bennett" <mab@straussandasher.com>
> > > > >>
> > > > >> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (72
> > > > > lines) ------------------
> > > > >> I'm no literary scholar, but wouldn't the picaresque be a
> > > > >> subcategory of
> > > > > the
> > > > >> "quest", so to speak? Some of the most ancient literature we
have
> > > > >> relates the tale of the hero's journey to a far land, and the
> > > > >> adventures that
> > > > > befell
> > > > >> him or them along the way: The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Odyssey,
The
> > > > >> Aneied, the Pentateuch, many of the Sagas, etc. It seems that
> > > > >> people have been
> > > > > "on
> > > > >> the road," and writing about it, for a long time. And I wholly
> > > > >> agree that it is very curious that any immigrant should write
one
> > > > >> of the quintessentially "American" novels, but that is exactly
what
> > > > >> VN did. The achievement is quite amazing, but, of course, the
> > > > >> readers of this list
> > > > > would
> > > > >> probably need no convincing of that. Apparently VN netted the
whole
> > > > > country
> > > > >> during those yearly butterfly hunts, and pinned it to the board
in
> > > > >> Lolita. I've always been particularly impressed with
> > > > >> Charlotte: VN absolutely
> > > > > NAILS
> > > > >> her character, which, while perhaps universal in form, is as
> > > > >> American as April in Arizona in its details. How did he do it?
Lo'
> > > > >> makes a little
> > > > > more
> > > > >> sense, but where did VN meet Lotte's prototypes? Was it during
his
> > > > > reading
> > > > >> tours of women's book clubs, described by Brian Boyd? If so, it
> > > > >> speaks volumes for VN's powers of observation that from these
brief
> > > > >> encounters he obtained the information necessary to make it
appear,
> > > > >> in the creation of Charlotte Haze, that he had been around such
> > > > >> women all his life. Remarkable.
> > > > >>
> > > > >> -----Original Message-----
> > > > >> From: D. Barton Johnson [mailto:chtodel@cox.net]
> > > > >> Sent: Friday, December 12, 2003 3:46 PM
> > > > >> To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> > > > >> Subject: Fw: Fw: Patricia Highsmith and Lolita's road trip
> > > > >>
> > > > >>
> > > > >> EDNOTE. The "road novel" exchange set me to musing. My first
> > > > >> thought was that it was a major AMERICAN ( or primarily so) genre
> > > > >> probably connected with the early predominance of the car in U.S.
> > > > >> life. And how curious that one of its preeminent examplars would
> > > > >> be by a Russian emigre to the U.S. That aspect of LOLITA derived
of
> > > > >> course from VN's butterfly expeditions
> > > > > west
> > > > >> (driven by Vera). The Nabokovs never had a car in Europe and
always
> > > > >> travelled by train. I suspect a set if subdefinitions are in
order.
> > > > >> Subcategory of the picaresque? Quixote? Gogol's Dead Souls?
> > > > >>
> > > > >> ----- Original Message -----
> > > > >> From: "Mark Bennett" <mab@straussandasher.com>
> > > > >> To: "'Vladimir Nabokov Forum'" <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> > > > >> >
> > > > >> > ----------------- Message requiring your approval (29
> > > > >> lines) ------------------
> > > > >> > If the definition is stretched but a little, even "Huckleberry
> > > > >> > Finn" and "Moby Dick" might be described as "road novels"
> > > > >> >
> > > > >> >
> > > > >> >
> > > > >> >
> > > > >> > > ----------------- Message requiring your approval (16
> > > > >> > lines) ------------------
> > > > >> > > Dear Don and List,
> > > > >> > >
> > > > >> > > There must be thousands of "road novels," and hundreds with
> > > > >> > > roadside culture and motels in them. When cornered, even
Rabbit
> > > > >> > > Angstrom took to
> > > > >> > the
> > > > >> > > road, like Kerouac and Cassady. There are probably dozens of
> > > > >> > "transgressive
> > > > >> > > sex road novels." Movies too; one thinks of "Easy Rider,"
> > > > >> > > "Sugarland Express," or "Thelma and Louise." After all, in
the
> > > > >> > > USA, where's the only place you can go when your dirty secret
> > > > >> > > forces you to get out of town? I believe that Patricia
> > > > >> > > Highsmith could never have been VN's muse -- not
> > > > >> > even
> > > > >> > > as Yolande Kickshaw!
> > > > >> > >
> > > > >> > > Regards,
> > > > >> > >
> > > > >> > > Tom (Rymour)
> > > > >> > >
> > > > >> > >
> > > > >>
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > ---------------------------------------
> > > > Stringer-Hye, Suellen
> > > > Vanderbilt University
> > > > Email: suellen.stringer-hye@Vanderbilt.Edu
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection with MSN 8.
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>
From: "Dane Gill" <pennyparkerpark@hotmail.com>
To: <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
Sent: Monday, December 15, 2003 3:36 PM
Subject: RE: Fw: Fw: Fw: Patricia Highsmith and Lolita's road trip
> This message was originally submitted by pennyparkerpark@HOTMAIL.COM
to the
> NABOKV-L list at LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU. If you simply forward it back to the
list,
> using a mail command that generates "Resent-" fields (ask your local
user
> support or consult the documentation of your mail program if in doubt), it
will
> be distributed and the explanations you are now reading will be
removed
> automatically. If on the other hand you edit the contributions you receive
into
> a digest, you will have to remove this paragraph manually. Finally, you
should
> be able to contact the author of this message by using the normal
"reply"
> function of your mail program.
>
> ---------------- Message requiring your approval (178
lines) ------------------
> As much as many of the secondary characters fit into a "type", VN was also
> very adament about their individuallity, their uniqueness ( ie Charlotte's
> very real human response sans social fakeness when discovering HH's diary)
> and that nothing of their character is set in stone, their futures cannot
be
> predicted. He even gives warning against doing so (in reference to
Farlow):
>
> Whatever evolution this or that popular character has gone through between
> the book covers, his fate is fixed for them. Thus X will never compose the
> immortal music that would clash with the second-rate symphonies he has
> accustomed us to.. Y will never commit murder. Under no circumstances can
Z
> ever betray us. We have it arranged in our minds, and the less often we
see
> a particular person the more satisfying it is to check how obediently he
> conforms to our notion of him every time we hear of him. Any deviation in
> the fates we have ordained would strike us as not only anomalous but
> unethical. We would prefer not to have known at all our neighbor, the
> retired hot-dog stand operator, if it turns out he has just produced the
> greatest book of poetry his age has seen.
> - Lolita p.265
> Dane Gill
>
>
> >From: "D. Barton Johnson" <chtodel@cox.net>
> >Reply-To: Vladimir Nabokov Forum <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> >To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> >Subject: Fw: Fw: Fw: Patricia Highsmith and Lolita's road trip
> >Date: Mon, 15 Dec 2003 15:21:23 -0800
> >
> >----- Original Message -----
> >From: "Mark Bennett" <mab@straussandasher.com>
> > >
> > > ---------------- Message requiring your approval (136
> >lines) ------------------
> > > Absolutely. And the Farlows as well. And Mona: haven't we all known
a
> > > Mona, or two, at school? The characters are superbly drawn
throughout.
> >But
> > > something about Charlotte has always seemed extraordinary to me. I'm
> >sure
> > > someone has pointed this out before, but Charlotte seems to haunt
Lolita
> >in
> > > much the same way that Hazel Shade haunts Pale Fire (well, actually,
HH
> > > does.) To me, that is one of the things that makes HH's final meeting
> >with
> > > pregnant Lo so moving: I believe HH begins to realize that he really
did
> > > love Charlotte, after his fashion, but was deceived in this, as in so
> >many
> > > other things, because had been sketching the bars of his cage to the
> > > exclusion of all else.
> > >
> > > -----Original Message-----
> > > From: D. Barton Johnson [mailto:chtodel@cox.net]
> > > Sent: Monday, December 15, 2003 12:47 PM
> > > To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> > > Subject: Fw: Fw: Fw: Patricia Highsmith and Lolita's road trip
> > >
> > >
> > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > From: "Stringer-Hye, Suellen" <suellen.stringer-hye@vanderbilt.edu>
> > > To: "Vladimir Nabokov Forum" <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> > > Sent: Monday, December 15, 2003 12:20 PM
> > > Subject: Re: Fw: Fw: Patricia Highsmith and Lolita's road trip
> > >
> > > >
> > > > ---------------- Message requiring your approval (112
> > > lines) ------------------
> > > > or how about Humbert's girlfriend Rita, always outside but fatally
> > > > drawn to Grainball City or Rita's Norman Vincent Peal brother for
whom
> > > > everything is "great"? These two always seem almost preternaturally
> > > > observed to me.
> > > >
> > > > --On Monday, December 15, 2003 10:33 AM -0800 "D. Barton Johnson"
> > > > <chtodel@cox.net> wrote:
> > > >
> > > > > ----- Original Message -----
> > > > > From: "Mark Bennett" <mab@straussandasher.com>
> > > > >>
> > > > >> ----------------- Message requiring your approval (72
> > > > > lines) ------------------
> > > > >> I'm no literary scholar, but wouldn't the picaresque be a
> > > > >> subcategory of
> > > > > the
> > > > >> "quest", so to speak? Some of the most ancient literature we
have
> > > > >> relates the tale of the hero's journey to a far land, and the
> > > > >> adventures that
> > > > > befell
> > > > >> him or them along the way: The Epic of Gilgamesh, The Odyssey,
The
> > > > >> Aneied, the Pentateuch, many of the Sagas, etc. It seems that
> > > > >> people have been
> > > > > "on
> > > > >> the road," and writing about it, for a long time. And I wholly
> > > > >> agree that it is very curious that any immigrant should write
one
> > > > >> of the quintessentially "American" novels, but that is exactly
what
> > > > >> VN did. The achievement is quite amazing, but, of course, the
> > > > >> readers of this list
> > > > > would
> > > > >> probably need no convincing of that. Apparently VN netted the
whole
> > > > > country
> > > > >> during those yearly butterfly hunts, and pinned it to the board
in
> > > > >> Lolita. I've always been particularly impressed with
> > > > >> Charlotte: VN absolutely
> > > > > NAILS
> > > > >> her character, which, while perhaps universal in form, is as
> > > > >> American as April in Arizona in its details. How did he do it?
Lo'
> > > > >> makes a little
> > > > > more
> > > > >> sense, but where did VN meet Lotte's prototypes? Was it during
his
> > > > > reading
> > > > >> tours of women's book clubs, described by Brian Boyd? If so, it
> > > > >> speaks volumes for VN's powers of observation that from these
brief
> > > > >> encounters he obtained the information necessary to make it
appear,
> > > > >> in the creation of Charlotte Haze, that he had been around such
> > > > >> women all his life. Remarkable.
> > > > >>
> > > > >> -----Original Message-----
> > > > >> From: D. Barton Johnson [mailto:chtodel@cox.net]
> > > > >> Sent: Friday, December 12, 2003 3:46 PM
> > > > >> To: NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU
> > > > >> Subject: Fw: Fw: Patricia Highsmith and Lolita's road trip
> > > > >>
> > > > >>
> > > > >> EDNOTE. The "road novel" exchange set me to musing. My first
> > > > >> thought was that it was a major AMERICAN ( or primarily so) genre
> > > > >> probably connected with the early predominance of the car in U.S.
> > > > >> life. And how curious that one of its preeminent examplars would
> > > > >> be by a Russian emigre to the U.S. That aspect of LOLITA derived
of
> > > > >> course from VN's butterfly expeditions
> > > > > west
> > > > >> (driven by Vera). The Nabokovs never had a car in Europe and
always
> > > > >> travelled by train. I suspect a set if subdefinitions are in
order.
> > > > >> Subcategory of the picaresque? Quixote? Gogol's Dead Souls?
> > > > >>
> > > > >> ----- Original Message -----
> > > > >> From: "Mark Bennett" <mab@straussandasher.com>
> > > > >> To: "'Vladimir Nabokov Forum'" <NABOKV-L@LISTSERV.UCSB.EDU>
> > > > >> >
> > > > >> > ----------------- Message requiring your approval (29
> > > > >> lines) ------------------
> > > > >> > If the definition is stretched but a little, even "Huckleberry
> > > > >> > Finn" and "Moby Dick" might be described as "road novels"
> > > > >> >
> > > > >> >
> > > > >> >
> > > > >> >
> > > > >> > > ----------------- Message requiring your approval (16
> > > > >> > lines) ------------------
> > > > >> > > Dear Don and List,
> > > > >> > >
> > > > >> > > There must be thousands of "road novels," and hundreds with
> > > > >> > > roadside culture and motels in them. When cornered, even
Rabbit
> > > > >> > > Angstrom took to
> > > > >> > the
> > > > >> > > road, like Kerouac and Cassady. There are probably dozens of
> > > > >> > "transgressive
> > > > >> > > sex road novels." Movies too; one thinks of "Easy Rider,"
> > > > >> > > "Sugarland Express," or "Thelma and Louise." After all, in
the
> > > > >> > > USA, where's the only place you can go when your dirty secret
> > > > >> > > forces you to get out of town? I believe that Patricia
> > > > >> > > Highsmith could never have been VN's muse -- not
> > > > >> > even
> > > > >> > > as Yolande Kickshaw!
> > > > >> > >
> > > > >> > > Regards,
> > > > >> > >
> > > > >> > > Tom (Rymour)
> > > > >> > >
> > > > >> > >
> > > > >>
> > > >
> > > >
> > > >
> > > > ---------------------------------------
> > > > Stringer-Hye, Suellen
> > > > Vanderbilt University
> > > > Email: suellen.stringer-hye@Vanderbilt.Edu
>
> _________________________________________________________________
> Tired of spam? Get advanced junk mail protection with MSN 8.
>
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>