Subject
Re: Top 100 (fwd)
Date
Body
EDITOR'S NOTE. Donald Harington <dharingt@comp.uark.edu>, sender of the
note below, is a well-know American writer. Most of his novels, including
the most recent, BUTTERFLYWEED (which I heartily recommend), concern the
semi-mythical Ozark hamlet of Staymore. Harington, whose own writing
career commenced in the heyday of VN's American fame, is an avowed VN
admirer and has expressed his appeciation in his novel EKATERINA (Harcourt, Brace
1993) which is, inter alia, an inversion of LOLITA. Its opening chapters
may be sampled on the Nabokov Web Site ZEMBLA at
http://www.libraries.psu.edu/iasweb/nabokov/nsintro.htm
_____________________________________________________________
Waterstone's list of the top 100 is not only very subjective but also very
commercial in that it probably reflects only the books available at
Waterstone's store. I looked over the list and was appalled at many of the
inclusions.
We can forgive them for choosing LOLITA over PALE FIRE. But how do we
account, for example, for that fact that John Irving's appallingly *worst*
novel, A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY, was on the list but not any of his good
readable books such as GARP or CIDER-HOUSE RULES?
I am sure that all of you would scratch 3/4s of the items on the list if
you were given the chance.
note below, is a well-know American writer. Most of his novels, including
the most recent, BUTTERFLYWEED (which I heartily recommend), concern the
semi-mythical Ozark hamlet of Staymore. Harington, whose own writing
career commenced in the heyday of VN's American fame, is an avowed VN
admirer and has expressed his appeciation in his novel EKATERINA (Harcourt, Brace
1993) which is, inter alia, an inversion of LOLITA. Its opening chapters
may be sampled on the Nabokov Web Site ZEMBLA at
http://www.libraries.psu.edu/iasweb/nabokov/nsintro.htm
_____________________________________________________________
Waterstone's list of the top 100 is not only very subjective but also very
commercial in that it probably reflects only the books available at
Waterstone's store. I looked over the list and was appalled at many of the
inclusions.
We can forgive them for choosing LOLITA over PALE FIRE. But how do we
account, for example, for that fact that John Irving's appallingly *worst*
novel, A PRAYER FOR OWEN MEANY, was on the list but not any of his good
readable books such as GARP or CIDER-HOUSE RULES?
I am sure that all of you would scratch 3/4s of the items on the list if
you were given the chance.