accident;y hit publish befofre putting this word on

8. Katydid- Any of several large, usuaally green, American long-horned greasshopper, the males of which produce a characteristic song.

I got the swine flu and broke my toe, that's why I haven't been in class lately.

Apperently Playboy is publishing an excerpt of The Original of Laura that we have mentioned a few times in class. From my reading I found that Playboy named Nabokov one of the most important people in sex.(www.nowpublic.com)
Playboy.com also has a very interesting interview with Nabokov from 1964 talking about Lolita and a variety of other topics. I tried to copy and paste it on to here, but it didn't work. The interview is interesting because it gives more insight into the mind and perspective of Nabokov.
In the interview he was asked if he ever regretted writing Lolita. His answer was quite compelling. "She was like the composition ofe a beautiful puzzle-its composition and its solution at the same time, since one is a mirror view of the other, depending on the way you look. Of course she completely eclipsed my other works-at least those i wrote in English: The Real Life of Sebastian Knight, Bend Sinister, my short stories, my book of recollections; but I cannnot grudge her this. This is a queer, tender charm about the mythical nymphet." In this answer, I see his confidence in his choice to write such a book, his interest in duality(as we have discussed in class), and his understanding of the impact and power of the topic of this book on a variety of readers. The interview really helps give some insight on what he is about. I thought it was interesting that considering the rarity of Nabokov giving interviews that he did one with Playboy of all magazines. Bit of irony considering the topic of Lolita

Some word's I never knew before this book

1. Waxwing-It's genus name is Bombycilla. (My bird knowledge is very limited) The common name waxwing is because of the tips to some of the wing feathers and in the Bohemian and Cedar Waxwings, these tips look like sealing wax, and that's where they get their common name. (http://www.wikipedia.com/)

2. Torquated- Having or wearing a torque, or neck chain.(www.dictionary.com)

3. Stillicide- A continual falling or succession of drops; rain water falling from the eaves.(www.dictionary.com)

4. Solarium- A glass-enclosed room, porch, or the like, exposed to the sun's rays, as at a seaside hotel or for convalescents in a hospital.

5. Iridule- It is single i.e. not a double rainbow, like the "Twinned Iris" of the previous line, fairly rarely seen and most attractive.(www.wordie.org) It was quoted from Nabokov's wife as the definition.

6. Lemniscate- A plane curvegenerated by the locus of the pointat which a variable tangent to a rectangular hyperbola insect a perpendicular from the center to the tangent.(www.dictionary.com)

7. Seraph- One of the celestial beings hovering above God's throne in Isaiah's vision.

Pale, Fire WOW

So i finished Pale, Fire. This has been one of the strangest, unique, interesting as well as difficult books I've ever had the opportunity to read. I found myself reading some parts as fast as I could. Not to get through it, but I think it was a mix of wanting to know what was going to happen next as well as feeling the passion of the character before i even realized it. I have a new found respect for Nabokov and his ability to create some pretty weird people. I am also learning more about the fact that he puts continual themes in his stories. I have noticed the themes of butterfly, a dislike of Freud, "reality" in several contexts, and the importance of memory. The one i literally grinned at was the Lolita reference. As we all know, Nabokov wrote a smaller version of Lolita before the novel, but I like the hint in Pale, Fire to the novel that would follow. I admit, I don't always notice the references to previous historical literature, but I'm working on it. I was very blow away by this book and was very thankful i understood most of it.

Tawnia Wilson (Eastman)
LIT 431
10-12-09





The two words I am going to write about are Enchanted Hunters, which is the first

hotel Humbert and Lolita ever stayed in. I find this to be both an ironic and disturbing

because Humbert seems to see himself in this role in his pursuit of his desires. In reality,

there was nothing enchanted about Humbert”s hunt for the perfect moment to take Lolita

as his forever. He tried to make it seem as if his relationship with Lolita was enchanted

but he hunted her like prey through manipulation, bribery, drugs, and lies. He wanted her

and could not take the chance that she wouldn’t feel the same in return. In an ironic twist,

not until it was too late did he realize he was the hunter becoming the hunted by Quilty.

They both did everything they could to get Lolita and Quilty proved to be the better

hunter in the end by taking her out from under Humbert.

The words used to introduce the hotel to the story, as well as the circumstances

Humbert and Lolita find themselves in when coming to it have a very negative feeling,

which hunting can correlate with, as well as words related to enchantment. These serve as

pre-cursors of bad things to come. “We did not see any traffic light-in fact, The Park was

as black as the sins it concealed-but soon after falling under the smooth spell of a nicely

graded skill.”(117) The word sin is an excellent hint of Humbert’s intent and possibly

what subconsciously he as well as the readers might think of the act being fulfilled. The

word spell shows what he wants to cover up the reality of his choices. He wants to

enchant us with a spell in hopes to justify that what he is doing is not that bad.

Further down the page, more negative and mystical words come up. “A row of parked

cars, like pigs at a trough, seemed at first sight to forbid access: but then by magic, a

formidable convertible… came into motion.”(117) The words “pigs at a trough”

symbolizes the fact that they are at a dirty place to do considerably dirty things. It seems

to me as if Humbert’s subconscious is coming through when he brings up these kinds of

words. He knows deep down that what he is doing is bad, but he can’t help himself.

When he uses words that are similar to enchanted they are meant to serve as a hopeful

smokescreen to cover up the reality of his filthy intent. In his mind, if what he is doing is

enchanted, magical, and spellbinding, then there isn’t anything wrong with it.

Quilty, Humbert’s doppelganger, is quite the manipulative hunter himself. His play

that Lolita is in has virtually the same name as the hotel itself. The play’s name serves as a

reminder of the hotel and a way of Quilty saying, “I know what you did.” Much like the

character she plays, Lolita is an enchanter that hypnotizes both Humbert and Quilty. They

both want the same thing out of their enchanted prey, but with slightly different

approaches and intent. Humbert is hoping to find what he had with the Annabel of his

youth, regardless of his own age. Quilty’s intent is more obviously vulgar while Humbert

keeps the illusion that Lolita is an enchanting fantasy.

In conclusion, the words enchanted hunters take on a life of their own in the story.

They are two words that interpret a lot of what Lolita is about. They represent what

Lolita, Humbert, and Quilty’s intersecting fates are all about. As much as Humbert would

like to justify his actions as fanciful and magical, the fact is he is just like Quilty in his hunt

to satisfy his urges within a smaller, weaker prey.

Pale, Fire

This is one of the most confusing, interesting, intriguing books I have read. There are several things that annoy me about Kinbote I will break it down to the top six as best as i can.

1. He has attention deficit disorder big time. One minute it's Zembla, the next John and Sybil, while also himself, and maybe just maybe a little description about the poem. He is all over the place in his tellings.

2.I'm not sure the exact word, but basically i get a loser, pathetic, either clueless or in major denial vibe from him. His descriptions about interactions with John and Sybil as well as others, he seems totally oblivious that people seem to think he's nuts, bothersome, etc. But with Nabokov it's hard to determine if it's actual cluelessness or denial of lunacy.

3. wich leads me to my next point. In class I remember us talking about something to the affect of not trusting Nabokov. I don't trust him or Kimbote at all. Kimbote seriously kooky(reminds me of Humbert in ways) When he supposedly copies down parts of poem that were in the margins and scratched out and so on, I can't help but get the feeling that he wrote it. He makes me very suspicious and i don't really believe much of what he's saying.

4.His disrespect of Hazel's death is very disturbing. If he was just a normal healthy fan of Shade, he would have respect for anything or anyone Shade cared about, particularily a dead loved one.

5. The narcissism is crazy big. When i read the poem, I felt warm, sad, that i could relate in some ways, connected. Reading Kimbote's "commentary" is very annoying how he realtes everything to him and his Zembla when the poem doesn't feel in any way connected to him when reading it. Being so insanely full of himself is a bit sad and desperate feeling.

6. Spying on Shade so obsessively is very scary. Constantly looking to see if his light is on, the detailed descriptions of peeping through his windows and his distaste of anyone else connected to Shade. Nowadays, these kind of things are usually pretexts to psycho serial killers. Freaky stuff

definitions of big words

I thought it might be helpful to write out a few definitions of some big words i know i was unfamiliar with and I have a feeling others are as well.

Speak, Memory. p258-inanition-to be exhausted or lethargic, sometimes from starvation

inauspicious-unfavorable, ill-omened

diaphanous-very sheer or light, translucent


A part in speak, memory was very relatable to me and my frustrations with trying to read and fully understand Nabokov's work. Page 221 "It did not occur to me that far from a veil, those poor words were so opaque that, in fact, they formed a wall." I don't know if it's my lack of patience or lack of comprehension but when the writing gets to specific or to far off into left field, my mind starts to wonder because i don't understand what's happening, but I'm trying though. i feel a dull wall of ache on the inside of my forehead that makes it hard for me to focus.

PALE FIRE

I am complete Nobokov novice and am not used to the styles of the books. But while Speak, Memory and Lolita are both great, they are a challenge to read for me. I think I like Pale Fire the best so far. Still several exciting and unfamiliar words, but I don't know if it's the flow of the poem or what, I find it to be quite beautiful. It is eloquent and the words that are chosen to describe the parts of his (Shade's) life and experiences makes my heart warm and my brain curious as to what will be said next. I do have to read some parts a few times, but that's alright. With what he wrote about his wife and daughter and being a family was very touching.
I noticed a Lolita and Freudian reference. Getting better at noticing similar things in each of the books.:)

During the "first seduction" so to speak there are several intriguing parts that also feel quite unsettling in my belly. In his delusion and obsession, he finds every way he can to make what he's doing seem justifyable and acceptable. "A breeze from wonderland had begun to affect my thoughts."(p. 131) Can we say Alice in Wonderland? This seems to me as if he can't distinguish between what is really going on in front of him and what he hopes to achieve through his fantasies. Later on in the page He uses the name of the motel they are at in his delusions. "Now and then it seemed to me that the enchanted prey was about to meet halfway the enchanted hunter, that her haunch was working its way toward me under the sof tsand of a remote and fabulous beach." This is just soooo warped. I guess being a parent that adores my children, it is hard for me to wrap my head around, but I want to. I think this is a very important subject to tell a story about, especially from the perspective of the pedophile. As much as a society of scared mostly rational parents don't want to think of someone doing this to their child, it is important to think of potential reasons why someone would do this. it's easy to think that someone is sick, but we don't want to think about ways to help them stop being that way.

Annotation of page 124

Like several other pages, 124 is filled with justification as well as honesty from Humbert. In the second line, he says, "I was still resolved to pursue my policy of sparing her purity by operating only in the stealth of night." This is one of Humbert's ways of justifying his actions and protecting himself from guilt through the use of the cloak of night. As long as it's nighttime, that makes what he's doing with Lolita alright.
In the middle of the page, he goes on to justify his urges through talking about history and past cultures' life styles. "The whole point is that the old link between the adult world and the child world has been completely severed nowadays by new customs and new laws." He has proof through history so that is part of his defense in making it okay.
Calling himself a therapist, sensualist, and moralist toward the end of the page shows more of his inner conflict as well as trying to justify his actions.
The last two lines shows a part of why Humbert has a fetish for little girls. "I should have understood that Lolita had already proved to be something quite different than Annabel. Annabel was his first love, and he lost that love at a very young age and he his trying to find that connection again.

Why write about a pedophile

Why write about a pedophile? Hmmm.. It is very easy for most of us to be appalled by the idea of this subject, but it is also very important for us to put light on it. Nabokov puts the subject to the reader in a way where we have no choice but to be in. Obviously Humbert is just a character, but putting him out there helps to open a reader's mind to potentially understand a little more about why a person would do these kinds of things before we just assume why. As much as it is disturbing to read, it is also enlightening because we are able to get inside the head of a very disturbed person and are able to try to understand where the sickness comes from. As much as it is yucky, it is also important. There iis not excuse for the theft of innocence, but this book shows some of his past as well as his justifications as to why he made the choices he did.

some of my favorite ladies

This is a picture of my great-grandma Elizabeth(sitting), My mom Judy on the left, grandma Thelma, my sister Lisa, and myself. It is 1989. We are at my cousin Sheri's families' house before going to her graduation. I remember the skirt that i was wearing quite fondly. It made me feel pretty and girly. I would wear it whenever I could regardless if i had anything to match with it. My sister's hair remained styled that large until about 1991. Interesting side note, all of us except my sister are wearing some type of pink and/or blue and it was purely coincidental. The fact that we have four generations of women in the same picture is pretty amazing to me as I sit here looking at it. My sister and I are the only ones that are still alive. I miss those other wonderful ladies often and with love.

my first memory

The first memory i have that is more than just flashes is when I was about six years old. My sister was supposedly taking me to my first movie in a theatre, but i later came to realize she had other plans in mind. I remember walking to the theatre and it was dusk in our small town of Chinook Montana. I was very excited to be doing anything with my sister because she was seven years older than me and that therefore made her very cool to me and me mostly annoying to her.
We were at the movie only a matter of minutes before she told me we were leaving to go to a friends house. The friend's name was Jerry Burger. (considering the trouble we got in after being at his house, i think i will remember that name for the rest of my life) I am not exactly sure how long we were there, but I was sitting in a chair kind of watching all the "big kids" do their thing while my sister was all of a sudden not in the room. I waited nervously and in what seemed like only moments she came stumbling into the living room laughing loudly and acting completely different than how i had seen her before.
Jerry came right to me to inform me that my sister was not drunk and everything was fine, but even at six years old, I knew different. I also knew that we were going to be in trouble when we got home.
I did not realize it at the time(beinf six, wasn't totally sure of the whole time concept yet) but apperently we had come home to early from the movie which caused my father to become suspicious as well as angry. I remember sitting on my sister's lap as my father grilled us on where we had been. Everytime he would ask me something, I would recieve a pinch in my back and a whisper in my ear from my sister of "movies!"
After much deliberation, my father determined we were lying and grounded both of us for the entire summer. (grounding was his weapon of choice) I guess because i was an accomplice to the crime I recieved the same punishment for the choices my sister made. To me, it was way too extreme of a punishment for both of us. I was just following my big sister and doing what I was told..... Moral-big sisters can be troublesome so watch out.

hello