In "Les 100 Romans d'Amour incontournables", presented by
Joseph Vebret (Librio, 2010) Nabokov makes two appearances
and Lolita, who wasn't in the index, was mentioned, too, at least
once.
Nabokov makes several references to Chansons de
Bilitis in ADA (cf. V-L archives for more details). The chosen "roman
d'amour" by Pierre Louÿis is "La Femme et le pantin"
(1898) that begins with a carnival in Seville with a young Andalusian girl (à la
beauté du diable") and her seductive play with André Stévenol.
"Qu'André se méfie de la flamenca. Il la connait bien.
Une Lolita doublée d'une Merteuil." Her name is Concha
Perez. Perhaps Pierre Louÿs's novel is indirectly cited and not only his
Chansons, when Nabokov mentions the Carmencitas, gipsies and
Andalousian girls. Worth looking into. I read that this novel would have
been turned into a movie by L.Buñuel's movie, in 1977 (with location in
Mexico), after a first adaptation by Joseph von Sternberg in 1935, with
Marlene Dietrich (also indicated in ADA) in the lead. Later Buñuel abandoned
this plan after a discussion with the producer. It was finally turned into a
movie by Julien Duvivier, in 1959, with Bardot playing Concha Perez.
This is really worth looking into! Nabokov would certainly have followed
with interest all the filming mishaps and misadventures with the Andalusian
Conchita, and he might have used some of them in ADA
Italo Svevo's ( 1898) "Senilità" is
linked to Nabokov's "Lolita." because of a character called Angiolina
and her attentive biographer Emilio. There is a "formidable roman dans
le roman, la magie du récit tient à l'ambiguité de l'instance
narratoriale." (involution, unreliable narrator...) It is considered
"le premier roman d'amour moderne" by James Joyce, Valery Larbaud and
Eugenio Montale.
(Cf. op.cit. page 42). I concluded this was the story indicated (cf.
op.cit. page 86) where there's a short resumé of Ivre du vin perdu
(1981) by Gabriel Matzneff from the lines "Nil Kolytcheff, the author's double,
is haunted by his great passion for "Angiolina Diabolina" and such
a diabolical angel is as mysteriously charming as Italo Svevo's
original creation or to Nabokov's "Lolita." ("Un ange qui n'a
rien a envier à celui mis en scène para Italo Svevo quelquer décennies
auparavant ou à la Lolita de Nabokov").
Nabokov's "Lolita" (not ADA!!!!) appears on pages 75 and
76. Vebret doesn't sound to be overly fond of Nabokov's novel that
"connaîtra un succès adnmirable outre-Atlantique à sa parution in 1958. La
critique parle de "chef d'oeuvre" malgré le scandale suscité par la passion dún
quinquagenaire pour une enfant de douze ans." (he even makes a mistake
about HH's age, described as "fiftyish")