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This article is about the novel by Vladimir Nabokov. For other uses, see Lolita (disambiguation).
Lolita
Cover of the first edition
Cover of the first edition (Olympia Press, Paris, 1955)
Author Vladimir Nabokov
Country Russia/USA
Language English, Russian
Genre(s) Tragicomedy, novel
Publisher Olympia Press, G. This page is about the novelist For his father the politician see Vladimir Dmitrievich Nabokov. Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending The United States of America —commonly referred to as the English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages Tragicomedy is Fictional work that blend aspects of the Genres of Tragedy and Comedy. A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of Literature or Information &ndash the activity of making information available for public view Olympia Press was a Paris -based Publisher, launched in 1953 by Maurice Girodias as a rebadged version of the Obelisk Press he inherited from P. Putnam's, Weidenfeld & Nicolson, Fawcett, Transworld (Corgi), Phaedra
Publication date 1955
Media type Print (hardback & paperback)
Pages 368 pp (recent paperback edition)
ISBN ISBN 1-85715-133-X (recent paperback edition)

Lolita (1955) is a novel by Vladimir Nabokov. Weidenfeld & Nicolson is a British publisher of fiction and reference books Fawcett Publications was an American publishing company founded in 1919 in Robbinsdale Minnesota by Wilford Hamilton "Captain Billy" Fawcett (1885-1940 The year 1955 in literature involved some significant events and new books A hardcover (or hardback or hardbound) is a Book bound with rigid protective covers (typically of cardboard covered with Cloth Paperback, softback, or softcover describe and refer to a Book by the nature of its binding. Year 1955 ( MCMLV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1955 Gregorian calendar) A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story This page is about the novelist For his father the politician see Vladimir Dmitrievich Nabokov. The novel was first written in English and published in 1955 in Paris, later translated by the author into Russian and published in 1957 in New York. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous The novel is both internationally famous for its innovative style and infamous for its controversial subject: the book's narrator and protagonist, Humbert Humbert, becoming sexually obsessed with a 12-year-old girl named Dolores Haze. A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story A narrator (or the extremely rarely used female equivalent narratress) is within any story (literary work movie play verbal account etc

After its publication, Lolita attained a classic status, becoming one of the best known and most controversial examples of 20th century literature. The twentieth century of the Common Era began on The name "Lolita" has entered pop culture to describe a sexually precocious young girl. Lolita is a slang term for a seductive sexually attractive or sexually precocious young girl Popular culture (or pop culture) is the Culture — patterns of human activity and the symbolic structures that give such activities significance and importance — The novel has been adapted to film twice, once in 1962 by Stanley Kubrick starring James Mason as Humbert Humbert, with Sue Lyon as Lolita, and again in 1997 by Adrian Lyne, starring Jeremy Irons as Humbert Humbert, and Dominique Swain as Lolita. Lolita is an influential 1962 film by Stanley Kubrick based on the classic novel of the same title by Vladimir Nabokov. James Neville Mason ( 15 May 1909 – 27 July 1984) was a three-time Academy Award -nominated British Actor who Sue Lyon (born July 10, 1946 in Davenport Iowa) is a Golden Globe -winning American former actress. Lolita is a 1997 film directed by Adrian Lyne and was the second screen adaptation of the novel by Vladimir Nabokov. Adrian Lyne (born 4 March, 1941 in Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, England) is an English Filmmaker and producer Jeremy John Irons (born September 19 1948) is an English film television and stage Actor. Dominique Ariane Swain (born August 12, 1980) is an American film actress.

Contents

Plot summary

Lolita is a novel narrated by Humbert Humbert, a literature scholar born in 1910 in Paris, France, who is obsessed by what he refers to as 'nymphets' (defined as sexually desirable girls between the ages of nine and 14). Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. A nymphet is seen to be a sexually Precocious, attractive girl and was notably used by French author Pierre de Ronsard, and popularised by Vladimir This obsession with young girls appears to have been a result of his failure to consummate an affair with a childhood sweetheart, Annabel Leigh, before her premature death from typhus. Typhus is any of several similar diseases caused by Louse -borne bacteria Shortly before the start of World War II, Humbert leaves Paris for New York. World War II, or the Second World War, (often abbreviated WWII) was a global military conflict which involved a majority of the world's nations, including Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous In 1947 he moves to Ramsdale, a small New England town, to write. History See also History of New England New England's earliest inhabitants were Algonquian -speaking Native Americans including the When the house in which he is promised a room burns down, he ends up at the door of Charlotte Haze, a widow, who has a sexually charged interpretation of taking in a lodger. As the two make their way through Mrs. Haze's tour of the house, Humbert rehearses different ways of turning her down, but then, after being led out into the garden, he spies Haze's 12-year-old daughter Dolores (variously referred to in the novel as Dolly, Lolita, Lola, Lo, L) sunbathing in the garden. Humbert, seeing the Annabel Leigh in her, is instantly smitten with the daughter and eagerly agrees to rent the room.

Charlotte becomes his unwitting pawn in his quest to make Lolita a part of his living fantasy. See Fantasy for an account of the literary genre involving the development of common or popular fantasies When Mrs. Haze drives Lolita off to summer camp, she leaves an ultimatum for Humbert, saying that he must marry her (for she has fallen madly in love with him) or move out. Summer camp is a supervised Program for Children and/or Teenagers conducted (usually during the Summer Months in some countries He is absolutely horrified at first, but after much contemplation he warms himself to the idea of living with Charlotte for the sole reason of making Lolita his stepdaughter, intending to use heavy sedatives on both her and her mother so he can express his sexual desire on Lolita in her sleep. Although we never learn specifically what he plans to do, he does say he wishes to keep her purity intact. Humbert marries Charlotte and they live a domestic lifestyle, with Charlotte completely oblivious to his distaste for her.

Humbert starts to write a diary in which he records his life in Ramsdale and, more specifically, his relationship with Lolita. He locks the diary in a drawer. While Lolita is away at camp and Humbert has gone into town, Charlotte opens the drawer and finds his diary, which details his lack of interest in her and impassioned lust for her daughter. Horrified and humiliated, Charlotte decides to flee with her daughter. Before doing so, she writes three letters -- to Humbert, Lolita and a strict boarding school for young ladies to which she apparently intends to send her daughter. Charlotte confronts Humbert when he returns home. Retreating to the kitchen, he tells her that the diary entries are just notes for a novel. But Charlotte has already bolted from the house to post the letters. Crossing the street, she is struck and killed by a passing motorist. A child retrieves the letters and gives them to Humbert, who destroys them.

Humbert picks Lolita up from camp, telling her that her mother is desperately ill in a hospital, and takes her to The Enchanted Hunters, a hotel of regional repute, where he meets a strange man (later revealed to be Clare Quilty), who seems to know who he is. Clare Quilty is a fictional character in Vladimir Nabokov 's 1955 novel Lolita. Humbert intends to use the sleeping pills on Lolita, but they have little effect. Instead, she seduces Humbert (the first of only two times she is recorded as doing so), and he discovers that he is not her first lover, as she had had a sexual affair at summer camp. After leaving the hotel, Humbert tells the now-troublesome Lolita that her mother is dead. Alone and frightened, Lolita has no choice but to accept Humbert into her life on his terms.

Driving Lolita around the country in Charlotte's car, moving from state to state and motel to motel, Humbert bribes the girl for sexual favours; he falls genuinely in love with her, but is conscious that she is not attracted to him and shares none of his interests. Bribery, a form of pecuniary corruption is an act usually implying money or gift given that alters the behaviour of the recipient in ways not consistent with the duties of that person She is, in fact, a very crass and ordinary adolescent, who merely puts up with him and is not above manipulating him sexually when she can. Eventually, the two settle down in another New England town, with Humbert posing as Lolita's father and Lolita enrolled in a private girls' school where the headmistress views Humbert's possessive supervision as that of a strict, old-world European parent. History See also History of New England New England's earliest inhabitants were Algonquian -speaking Native Americans including the

Humbert nevertheless is persuaded to allow Lolita to take part in a school theatrical club (extracting additional sexual favours from her in exchange for his permission). Ominously, the title of the play -- The Enchanted Hunters -- is identical to the name of the hotel where they technically became lovers. Lolita is enthusiastic about the play and is said to have impressed the playwright, who attended a rehearsal, but before opening night she and Humbert have a ferocious argument, and she bolts from the house. Found by Humbert a few minutes later, Lolita declares that she wants to immediately leave town and resume their travels. Humbert is delighted, but increasingly guarded as they again drive westward, nagged by a feeling that they are being followed and that Lolita knows who the follower is. He is right. Clare Quilty, an acquaintance of Charlotte's, the nephew of the local dentist in Ramsdale, and the author of the play being performed at Lolita's school, is himself a pedophile and amateur pornographer. The term pedophilia or paedophilia has a range of definitions as found in Psychology, law enforcement and the popular vernacular Pornography or porn is the explicit depiction of Sexual subject matter with the sole intention of sexually exciting the viewer He is tailing the couple in accordance with a secret plan of escape devised with Lolita. While Humbert becomes increasingly paranoid, Lolita becomes ill and recuperates in a nearby hospital. Paranoia is a disturbed thought process characterized by excessive Anxiety or Fear, often to the point of Irrationality and Delusion. One night she checks out with her "uncle", who has paid the hospital bill. Humbert, still clueless as to the identity of Lolita's "abductor", makes farcical and frantic attempts to find them by inspecting various motel-register aliases which have been laced by Quilty with insults and jokes flavored with literary allusions.

During this period, Humbert has a chaotic, two-year love-affair with a petite alcoholic named Rita who, at 30, is 10 years younger than him and a passable physical substitute for Lolita. Alcoholism is a term with multiple and sometimes conflicting definitions By 1952, Humbert has settled down as a scholar at a small academic institute. Scholarly method &mdash or as it is more commonly called scholarship &mdash is the body of principles and practices used by scholars to make their claims about the world as One day, he receives a letter from Lolita, now 17, who tells him that she is married, pregnant and in desperate need of funds. Armed with a gun, Humbert, still driving Charlotte's car, visits his young obsession and turns over to her the money she was due from her mother's estate. He also asks her to leave with him, but she refuses. During their conversation, Lolita explains that her husband, a nearly deaf war-veteran and the father of her unborn child, was not her abductor, whereupon Humbert offers to give her all the money he has if she will reveal the man's identity. Lolita complies, saying that she had really loved Clare Quilty, but that he threw her out after she refused to perform in a pornographic film he was making.

Leaving Lolita forever, Humbert surprises Quilty at his mansion. Quilty goes mad when he sees Humbert's gun. After a mutually exhausting struggle for it, Quilty, now insane with fear, merely responds politely as Humbert repeatedly shoots him. He finally dies with a comical lack of interest, expressing his slight concern in an affected English accent. English language in England refers to the English language as spoken in England, part of the United Kingdom. Humbert is left exhausted and disoriented. Arrested for murder, he writes the book he entitles Lolita or, The Confessions of a White Widowed Male, while awaiting trial. According to the novel's fictional "Foreword", Humbert dies of coronary thrombosis upon finishing his manuscript. Coronary thrombosis is a form of Thrombosis affecting the Coronary circulation. He is thus unaware that Lolita dies, during childbirth, on Christmas Day, 1952. Childbirth (also called labour, birth, partus or parturition) is the culmination of a Human Pregnancy or Year 1952 ( MCMLII) was a Leap year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar.

Style and interpretation

The novel is a tragicomedy narrated by Humbert, who riddles the narrative with wordplay and his wry observations of American culture. Tragicomedy is Fictional work that blend aspects of the Genres of Tragedy and Comedy. Word play is a Literary technique in which the nature of the words that are used become the main subject of the work The development of the culture of the United States of America — music, cinema, dance, architecture, literature, poetry His humor provides an effective counterpoint to the pathos of the tragic plot. Pathos (ˈpeɪːθɒs ( πάθος) is one of the three Modes of persuasion in Rhetoric (along with Ethos and Logos) The novel's flamboyant style is characterized by word play, double entendres, multilingual puns, anagrams, and coinages such as nymphet, a word that has since had a life of its own and can be found in most dictionaries, and the lesser used "faunlet". A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story Word play is a Literary technique in which the nature of the words that are used become the main subject of the work Not to be confused with Puns which employ multiple phrases A double entendre is a Figure of speech similar to the Pun, in A pun (or paronomasia) is a Phrase that deliberately exploits confusion between similar-sounding Words for humorous or Rhetorical An anagram ( Greek anagramma 'letters written anew' passive participle of ana- 'again' + gramma 'letter' is a type of Word play A nymphet is seen to be a sexually Precocious, attractive girl and was notably used by French author Pierre de Ronsard, and popularised by Vladimir A dictionary is a book of alphabetically listed Words in a specific language with definitions etymologies pronunciations and other information or a book of alphabetically Nabokov's Lolita is far from an endorsement of pedophilia, since it dramatizes the tragic consequences of Humbert's obsession with the young heroine. The term pedophilia or paedophilia has a range of definitions as found in Psychology, law enforcement and the popular vernacular Nabokov himself described Humbert as "a vain and cruel wretch" and "a hateful person" (quoted in Levine, 1967). People who bear the surname Levine, a common Russian derivative of Levi, include A – J Adam Noah Levine (b

Humbert is a well-educated, multilingual, literary-minded European émigré, as is Nabokov. Émigré is a French term that literally refers to a person who has "migrated out" but often carries a connotation of politico-social self- Exile. But Humbert is also extraordinarily handsome, and he asks the reader to bear that fact in mind. He fancies himself a great artist, but lacks the curiosity that Nabokov considers essential. The definition of an artist is wide-ranging and covers a broad spectrum of Activities to do with creating Art, practicing the Arts and/or demonstrating Humbert tells the story of a Lolita that he creates in his mind because he is unable and unwilling to listen to the actual girl and accept her on her own terms. In the words of Richard Rorty, from his famous interpretation of Lolita in Contingency, Irony, and Solidarity, Humbert is a "monster of incuriosity". Richard McKay Rorty (October 4 1931 - June 8 2007 was an American Philosopher. Contingency Irony and Solidarity (1989 written by American Philosopher Richard Rorty, is based on two sets of lectures given at

Some critics have accepted Humbert's version of events at face value. The word critic comes from the Greek el κριτικός ( el-Latn kritikós) "able to discern" which in turn derives from the word In 1959, novelist Robertson Davies excused the narrator entirely, writing that the theme of Lolita is "not the corruption of an innocent child by a cunning adult, but the exploitation of a weak adult by a corrupt child". William Robertson Davies, CC, FRSC, FRSL (born August 28, 1913, at Thamesville, Ontario, and died December

Most writers, however, have given less credit to Humbert and more to Nabokov's powers as an ironist. Martin Amis, in his essay on Stalinism, Koba the Dread, proposes that Lolita is an elaborate metaphor for the totalitarianism that destroyed the Russia of Nabokov's childhood (though Nabokov states in his Afterword that he "[detests] symbols and allegories"). Martin Louis Amis (born 25 August 1949 is an English Novelist, Essayist and Short story Writer, the son of writer Kingsley Stalinism is the political regime named after Joseph Stalin, leader of the Soviet Union from 1929–1953 Metaphor (from the Greek: μεταφορά - metaphora, meaning "transfer" is language that directly compares seemingly unrelated subjects Totalitarianism (or totalitarian rule) is a concept used to describe Political systems where a State regulates nearly every aspect of public and private Russia (Россия Rossiya) or the Russian Federation ( Rossiyskaya Federatsiya) is a transcontinental Country extending An afterword is a Literary device that is often found at the end of a piece of Literature. An allegory (from αλλος allos "other" and el αγορευειν agoreuein "to speak in public" is a figurative mode of representation Amis interprets it as a story of tyranny told from the point of view of the tyrant. In modern usage a tyrant is a single ruler holding absolute power over a State or within an Organization. In modern usage a tyrant is a single ruler holding absolute power over a State or within an Organization. "All of Nabokov's books are about tyranny", he says, "even Lolita. Perhaps Lolita most of all".

In 2003, Iranian expatriate Azar Nafisi published the memoir Reading Lolita in Tehran about a covert women's reading group. The Iranian people are a collection of Ethnic groups defined along linguistic lines as speaking Iranian languages. An expatriate (in abbreviated form expat) is a person temporarily or permanently residing in a country and culture other than that of the person's upbringing Azar Nafisi, PhD (آذر نفیسی (born December 1955 is an Iranian academic and writer who currently resides for other uses see Memoir (disambiguation As a literary Genre, a memoir (from the French: mémoire Reading Lolita in Tehran A Memoir in Books is a book by Iranian author and professor Azar Nafisi. For Nafisi, the essence of the novel is Humbert's solipsism and his erasure of Lolita's independent identity. Solipsism ( Latin: solus, alone + ipse, self is the philosophical idea that "My mind is the only thing that I know exists She writes: "Lolita was given to us as Humbert's creature [. . . ] To reinvent her, Humbert must take from Lolita her own real history and replace it with his own [. . . ] Yet she does have a past. Despite Humbert's attempts to orphan Lolita by robbing her of her history, that past is still given to us in glimpses".

One of the novel's early champions, Lionel Trilling, warned in 1958 of the moral difficulty in interpreting a book with so eloquent and so self-deceived a narrator: "we find ourselves the more shocked when we realize that, in the course of reading the novel, we have come virtually to condone the violation it presents [. Lionel Trilling (born Lionel Mordechai 4 July 1905 &ndash 5 November 1975 was an American Literary critic, author and teacher . . ] we have been seduced into conniving in the violation, because we have permitted our fantasies to accept what we know to be revolting". Infraction as a general term means a violation of a rule or Local ordinance or regulation promise or obligation

Publication and reception

Due to its subject matter, Nabokov was unable to find an American publisher for Lolita. The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Publishing is the process of production and dissemination of Literature or Information &ndash the activity of making information available for public view After four refused, he finally resorted to the Olympia Press in Paris, September 1955. Olympia Press was a Paris -based Publisher, launched in 1953 by Maurice Girodias as a rebadged version of the Obelisk Press he inherited from Paris (ˈpærɨs in English; in French) is the Capital of France and the country's largest city Events in September It is the start of the academic year in many countries in the Northern Hemisphere. Year 1955 ( MCMLV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays the 1955 Gregorian calendar) Although the first printing of 5,000 copies sold out, there were no substantial reviews. See also Critic. A review is an evaluation of a publication such as a movie, Video game, Musical composition Eventually, at the end of 1955, Graham Greene, in an interview with the (London) Times, called it one of the best novels of 1955. Henry Graham Greene OM, CH (2 October 1904 &ndash 3 April 1991 was an English writer best known as a novelist but who also produced Short stories An interview is a conversation between two or more people (the interviewer and the interviewee where Questions are asked by the interviewer to obtain information from A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story This statement provoked a response from the (London) Sunday Express, whose editor called it "the filthiest book I have ever read" and "sheer unrestrained pornography. London ( ˈlʌndən is the capital and largest urban area in the United Kingdom. The Daily Express is a conservative Middle-market British Tabloid Newspaper. " British Customs officers were then instructed by a panicked Home Office to seize all copies entering the United Kingdom. The Home Office is the United Kingdom government department responsible for security and order The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located In December 1956 the French followed suit and the Minister of the Interior banned Lolita (the ban lasted for two years). Events in December Union Day of Romania (1 December World AIDS Day ( December 1) National Day of Year 1956 ( MCMLVI) was a Leap year starting on Sunday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. This article is about the country For a topic outline on this subject see List of basic France topics. Its eventual British publication by Weidenfeld & Nicolson caused a scandal which contributed to the end of the political career of one of the publishers, Nigel Nicolson. The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom, the UK or Britain,is a Sovereign state located Weidenfeld & Nicolson is a British publisher of fiction and reference books Nigel Nicolson OBE ( 19 January 1917 &ndash 23 September 2004) was a British writer publisher and politician [1]

By complete contrast, American officials were initially nervous, but the first American edition was issued without problems by G.P. Putnam's Sons in 1958, and was a bestseller, the first book since Gone with the Wind to sell 100,000 copies in the first three weeks of publication. G P Putnam's Sons was a major United States Book publisher based in New York City, New York. A bestseller is a Book that is identified as extremely popular by its inclusion on lists of currently top selling titles that are based on publishing industry and book trade This is about the 1936 American Novel. For the film see Gone with the Wind (film Gone with the Wind is a 1936 American To publish is to make content Publicly known. The term is most frequently applied to the distribution of text or images on paper or to the placing of content

Today, it is considered by many one of the finest novels written in the 20th century. The twentieth century of the Common Era began on In 1998, it was named the fourth greatest English language novel of the 20th century by the Modern Library. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States The twentieth century of the Common Era began on The Modern Library, a current division of Random House Publishers was founded in 1917 by Albert Boni and Horace Liveright. Nabokov rated the book highly himself. In an interview for BBC Television in 1962 he said,

Lolita is a special favourite of mine. It was my most difficult book — the book that treated of a theme which was so distant, so remote, from my own emotional life that it gave me a special pleasure to use my combinational talent to make it real.

Two years later, in 1964's interview for Playboy, he said,

I shall never regret Lolita. Playboy is an American Men's magazine, founded in Chicago Illinois, by Hugh Hefner and his associates which has grown into Playboy She was like the composition of 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 cannot grudge her this. English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States The Real Life of Sebastian Knight is a Novel by Vladimir Nabokov, written from late 1938 to early 1939 and published Bend Sinister is a 1947 Dystopian Novel written by Vladimir Nabokov. There is a queer, tender charm about that mythical nymphet. A nymphet is seen to be a sexually Precocious, attractive girl and was notably used by French author Pierre de Ronsard, and popularised by Vladimir

At the same year, in the interview for Life, Nabokov was asked, "Which of your writings has pleased you most?" He answered,

I would say that of all my books Lolita has left me with the most pleasurable afterglow —perhaps because it is the purest of all, the most abstract and carefully contrived. I am probably responsible for the odd fact that people don't seem to name their daughters Lolita any more. I have heard of young female poodles being given that name since 1956, but of no human beings.

Sources and links

Links in Nabokov's work

In 1939, Nabokov wrote a novella Volshebnik (Волшебник) that was published only posthumously in 1986 in English translation as The Enchanter. Year 1939 ( MCMXXXIX) was a Common year starting on Sunday (link will display the full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. A novella is a written, Fictional Prose Narrative longer than a Novelette but shorter than a Novel. Year 1986 ( MCMLXXXVI) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link displays 1986 Gregorian calendar) The Enchanter is a Novella written by Vladimir Nabokov in Paris in 1939 It can be seen as an early version of Lolita but with significant differences: it takes place in Central Europe, and the protagonist is unable to consummate his passion with his stepdaughter, leading to his suicide. Central Europe is the Region lying between the variously and vaguely defined areas of Eastern and The theme of ephebophilia was already touched on by Nabokov in his short story A Nursery Tale, written in 1926. The term ephebophilia is the sexual preference for adolescents around 15-19 years of age A Nursery Tale (Сказка Skazka is a Short story by Vladimir Nabokov first published in the expatriate Russian newspaper Rul' on 27 Also, in the 1932 Laughter in the Dark, Margot Peters is 16 and already had an affair when middle-aged Albinus is attracted to her. Laughter in the Dark (Original Russian title Камера Обскура Kamera Obskura) is a Novel written by Vladimir Nabokov and released

In chapter three of the novel The Gift (written in Russian in 1935–1937) the similar gist of Lolita's first chapter is outlined to the protagonist Fyodor Cherdyntsev by his obnoxious landlord Shchegolev as an idea of a novel he would write "if I only had the time": a man marries a widow only to gain access to her young daughter, who however resists all his passes. The Gift ( Russian: Дар Dar; ISBN 0-679-72725-6 is Vladimir Nabokov 's final Russian novel and is considered to be his farewell to the world Schegolev says it happened "in reality" to a friend of his; it is made clear to the reader that it concerns himself and his stepdaughter Zina (fifteen at the time of marriage) who becomes the love of Fyodor's life and his wife.

In April 1947 Nabokov wrote to Edmund Wilson: "I am writing . April holidays and events National Poetry Month - in United States National Sexual Assault Awareness Month - in United Year 1947 ( MCMXLVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Edmund Wilson ( May 8, 1895 &ndash June 12 1972) was an American Writer and . . a short novel about a man who liked little girls – and it's going to be called The Kingdom by the Sea. . . "[2] The work expanded into Lolita during the next eight years. Nabokov used the title A Kingdom by the Sea in his 1974 pseudo-autobiographic novel Look at the Harlequins! for a Lolita-like book written by the narrator who, in addition, travels with his teenage daughter Bel from motel to motel after the death of her mother; later, his fourth wife is Bel's look-alike and shares her birthday. Year 1974 ( MCMLXXIV) was a Common year starting on Tuesday (link will display full calendar of the 1974 Gregorian calendar. A novel (from Italian novella, Spanish novela, French nouvelle for "new" "news" or "short story Look At the Harlequins! is a Novel written by Vladimir Nabokov, first published in 1974

Allusions/references to other works

Possible real-life prototype

According to Alexander Dolinin,[4] the prototype of Lolita was 11-year-old Florence Horner, kidnapped in 1948 by a 50-year-old mechanic Frank La Salle, who had caught her stealing a five-cent notebook. Florence Sally Horner (1937&ndash1952 was a girl abducted by a Child molester in 1948 La Salle travelled with her over various states for 21 months and is believed to have had sex with her. He claimed that he was an FBI agent and threatened to “turn her in” for the theft and to send her to "a place for girls like you. " The Horner case was not widely reported, but Dolinin adduces various similarities in events and descriptions.

The problem with this suggestion is that Nabokov had already used the same basic idea — that of a child molester and his victim booking into a hotel as man and daughter — in his then-unpublished 1939 work Volshebnik (Волшебник). Child sexual abuse is a form of Child abuse in which a child is abused for the sexual gratification of an adult or older adolescent This not to say, however, that Nabokov could not have drawn on some details of the case in writing Lolita, and the La Salle case is mentioned explicitly in Chapter 33 of Part II:

Had I done to Dolly, perhaps, what Frank Lasalle, a fifty-year-old mechanic, had done to eleven-year-old Sally Horner in 1948?

Heinz von Eschwege's "Lolita"

German academic Michael Maar's book The Two Lolitas (ISBN 1-84467-038-4) describes his recent discovery of a 1916 German short story titled "Lolita" about a middle-aged man travelling abroad who takes a room as a lodger and instantly becomes obsessed with the preteen girl (also named Lolita) who lives in the same house. The German people (Deutsche are an Ethnic group, in the sense of sharing a common German culture, descent and speaking the German language as Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany ( ˈbʊndəsʁepuˌbliːk ˈdɔʏtʃlant is a Country in Central Europe. The short story is a literary genre of Fictional Prose Narrative that tends to be more concise and to the point than longer works of fiction such Maar has speculated that Nabokov may have had cryptomnesia (a "hidden memory" of the story that Nabokov was unaware of) while he was composing Lolita during the 1950s. Cryptomnesia, or inadvertent plagiarism is a Memory bias whereby a person falsely recalls generating a thought an idea a song or a joke when the thought was actually generated Maar says that until 1937 Nabokov lived in the same section of Berlin as the author, Heinz von Eschwege (pen name: Heinz von Lichberg), and was most likely familiar with his work, which was widely available in Germany during Nabokov's time there. A maar is a broad low- Relief Volcanic crater that is caused by a Phreatomagmatic eruption, an Explosion caused by Groundwater Berlin is the capital city and one of sixteen states of Germany. A pen name, nom de plume, or literary double, is a Pseudonym adopted by an Author or their publishers to conceal their identity [5][6] The Philadelphia Inquirer, in the article "Lolita at 50: Did Nabokov take literary liberties?" says that, according to Maar, accusations of plagiarism should not apply and quotes him as saying: "Literature has always been a huge crucible in which familiar themes are continually recast. The Philadelphia Inquirer is a morning daily Newspaper that serves the Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, metropolitan area of the United A maar is a broad low- Relief Volcanic crater that is caused by a Phreatomagmatic eruption, an Explosion caused by Groundwater Plagiarism is the unauthorized use or close imitation of the language and thoughts of another author and the representation of them as one's own original work . . Nothing of what we admire in Lolita is already to be found in the tale; the former is in no way deducible from the latter. " See also Jonathan Lethem in Harper's Magazine on this story. Jonathan Allen Lethem (born February 19 1964 is an American writer Harper's Magazine (also Harper's) is a monthly general-interest Magazine of literature politics culture finance and the arts [7]

Nabokov's afterword

In 1956, Nabokov penned an afterword to Lolita ("On a Book Entitled Lolita") that was included in every subsequent edition of the book. An afterword is a Literary device that is often found at the end of a piece of Literature.

In the afterword, Nabokov wrote that "the initial shiver of inspiration" for Lolita "was somehow prompted by a newspaper story about an ape in the Jardin des Plantes who, after months of coaxing by a scientist, produced the first drawing ever charcoaled by an animal: this sketch showed the bars of the poor creature's cage". The Jardin des Plantes is the main Botanical garden in France. Neither the article nor the drawing has been recovered.

In response to an American critic who characterized Lolita as the record of Nabokov's "love affair with the romantic novel", Nabokov wrote that "the substitution of 'English language' for 'romantic novel' would make this elegant formula more correct".

Nabokov concluded the afterword with a reference to his beloved first language, which he abandoned as a writer once he moved to the United States in 1940: "My private tragedy, which cannot, and indeed should not, be anybody's concern, is that I had to abandon my natural idiom, my untrammeled, rich, and infinitely docile Russian tongue for a second-rate brand of English". The United States of America —commonly referred to as the Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages English is a West Germanic language originating in England and is the First language for most people in the United Kingdom, the United States

Russian translation

Nabokov translated Lolita into Russian; the translation was published by Phaedra in New York in 1967. Russian ( transliteration:,) is the most geographically widespread language of Eurasia, the most widely spoken of the Slavic languages Translation is the interpreting of the meaning of a text and the subsequent production of an equivalent text likewise called a " translation New York ( is a state in the Mid-Atlantic and Northeastern regions of the United States and is the nation's third most populous

The translation includes a "Postscriptum" in which Nabokov reconsiders his relationship with his native tongue. Referring to the afterword to the English edition, Nabokov states that only "the scientific scrupulousness led me to preserve the last paragraph of the American afterword in the Russian text. An afterword is a Literary device that is often found at the end of a piece of Literature. In Printmaking, an edition is a number of prints struck from one plate usually at the same point in time . . " He further explains that the "story of this translation is the story of a disappointment. Alas, that 'wonderful Russian language' which, I imagined, still awaits me somewhere, which blooms like a faithful spring behind the locked gate to which I, after so many years, still possess the key, turned out to be non-existent, and there is nothing beyond that gate, except for some burned out stumps and hopeless autumnal emptiness, and the key in my hand looks rather like a lock pick. "

Film, TV or theatrical adaptations

The 1962 adaptation's movie poster art.
The 1962 adaptation's movie poster art. Lolita is an influential 1962 film by Stanley Kubrick based on the classic novel of the same title by Vladimir Nabokov.
The 1997 movie poster art.
The 1997 movie poster art. Lolita is a 1997 film directed by Adrian Lyne and was the second screen adaptation of the novel by Vladimir Nabokov.

See also

Notes

  1. ^ Laurence W. Martin, "The Bournemouth Affair: Britain's First Primary Election", The Journal of Politics, Vol. 22, No. 4. (Nov. 1960), pp. Year 1960 ( MCMLX) was a Leap year starting on Friday (link will display full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. 654–681.
  2. ^ Letter dated 7 April 1947; in Dear Bunny, Dear Volodya: The Nabokov Wilson Letters, 1940–1971, ed. Events 529 - First draft of Corpus Juris Civilis (a fundamental work in Jurisprudence) is issued by Eastern Roman Emperor Year 1947 ( MCMXLVII) was a Common year starting on Wednesday (link will display full 1947 calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Simon Karlinsky (Berkeley: University of California Press, 2001; ISBN 0-520-22080-3), p. 215
  3. ^ Brian Boyd on Speak, Memory, Vladimir Nabokov Centennial, Random House, Inc. Random House Inc is the world's largest English-language general trade book publisher
  4. ^ Ben Dowell, "1940s sex kidnap inspired Lolita", The Sunday Times, September 11, 2005. The Times is a daily national Newspaper published in the United Kingdom since 1785 when it was known as The Daily Universal Register. Events 9 - The Battle of the Teutoburg Forest ends 506 - The Bishops of Visigothic Gaul Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Accessed on November 14, 2007. Events 1533 - Conquistadors from Spain under the leadership of Francisco Pizarro arrive in Cajamarca, Inca Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
  5. ^ On the Media, "My Sin, My Soul... Whose Lolita? ", September 16, 2005. On the Media ( OTM) is an hour-long weekly radio program hosted by Bob Garfield and Brooke Gladstone covering Journalism. Events 1400 - Owain Glyndŵr is declared Prince of Wales by his followers Year 2005 ( MMV) was a Common year starting on Saturday (link displays full calendar of the Gregorian calendar. Accessed on November 14, 2007. Events 1533 - Conquistadors from Spain under the leadership of Francisco Pizarro arrive in Cajamarca, Inca Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
  6. ^ Liane Hansen, "Possible Source for Nabokov's 'Lolita'", Weekend Edition Sunday, April 25, 2004. Liane Hansen (born 29 September Worcester Massachusetts) is an American journalist Radio personality and senior host of the National Public Radio Weekend Edition is the name given to a set of American Radio News magazines produced and distributed by National Public Radio (NPR Events 1607 - Eighty Years' War: The Dutch fleet destroys the anchored Spanish fleet at Gibraltar. "MMIV" redirects here For the Modest Mouse album see " Baron von Bullshit Rides Again " Accessed on November 14, 2007. Events 1533 - Conquistadors from Spain under the leadership of Francisco Pizarro arrive in Cajamarca, Inca Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
  7. ^ Jonathan Lethem, "The Ecstasy of Influence: A Plagiarism", Harper's Magazine, February 2007. Harper's Magazine (also Harper's) is a monthly general-interest Magazine of literature politics culture finance and the arts Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century. Accessed on November 14, 2007. Events 1533 - Conquistadors from Spain under the leadership of Francisco Pizarro arrive in Cajamarca, Inca Year 2007 ( MMVII) was a Common year starting on Monday of the Gregorian calendar in the 21st century.
  8. ^ broadwayworld.com Lolita, My Love
  9. ^ http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/vncol26.htm Accessed on March 13. 2008
  10. ^ http://www.nerve.com/Fiction/PeraPia/losDiary/ Accessed on March 13. 2008
  11. ^ http://members.aol.com/CanLit/Coteau/Morrissey/ Accessed on March 13. 2008
  12. ^ http://www.expat.ru/culturereviews.php?cid=48 Accessed on March 13. 2008
  13. ^ Daniel J. Wakin. "Wrestling With a 'Lolita' Opera and Losing", The New York Times, March 24, 2005. Retrieved on 2008-03-13. 2008 ( MMVIII) is the current year in accordance with the Gregorian calendar, a Leap year that started on Tuesday of the Common Events 1138 - Cardinal Gregorio Conti is elected Antipope as Victor IV, succeeding Anacletus II.  

References

External links


Dictionary

Lolita

-proper noun

  1. A female given name.
  2. The title and the protagonist of a controversial novel by Vladimir Nabokov.

-noun

  1. A young girl who is sexually alluring.
  2. An attractive or precocious young girl.
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