Tuesday, November 3, 2009


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

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