Subject
Lolita (narrated by a "Literate perv") ranked 11th among sexiest
novels
novels
From
Date
Body
[Sandy Klein notes that Lolita was ranked number 11 in Playboy
Magazine's recent list of the 25 sexiest novels ever written. VN was a
regular reader of Playboy, which published his stories, excerpts from
his novels, and an interview with him. Here is the plot summary - -
with an unfortunate parenthesis! - - and an analysis of the novel's
eroticism, followed by a link to the entire list. -- SES]
Lolita
by Vladimir Nabokov (1955)
Plot: Literate perv marries (and kills) landlady to get at her daughter.
Why it's on the list: This novel has a reputation as a "dirty book" that
it doesn't really deserve; its storied buzz is hotter than the text
itself, which is why it doesn't even make our top 10. There is an
incandescent bit of frottage (French for dry hump where one partner is
unaware of the other's excitement, usually conducted on subways) but the
novel is a tale of hotels and guest cottages that Nabokov wrote on the
back of 3 x 5 index cards as he and his wife traveled across America in
search of butterflies. We've never been able to look at an index card
the same way again.
Here's a link to the top 25:
http://www.playboy.com/features/features/25novels/
Search the archive: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/archives/nabokv-l.html
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Magazine's recent list of the 25 sexiest novels ever written. VN was a
regular reader of Playboy, which published his stories, excerpts from
his novels, and an interview with him. Here is the plot summary - -
with an unfortunate parenthesis! - - and an analysis of the novel's
eroticism, followed by a link to the entire list. -- SES]
Lolita
by Vladimir Nabokov (1955)
Plot: Literate perv marries (and kills) landlady to get at her daughter.
Why it's on the list: This novel has a reputation as a "dirty book" that
it doesn't really deserve; its storied buzz is hotter than the text
itself, which is why it doesn't even make our top 10. There is an
incandescent bit of frottage (French for dry hump where one partner is
unaware of the other's excitement, usually conducted on subways) but the
novel is a tale of hotels and guest cottages that Nabokov wrote on the
back of 3 x 5 index cards as he and his wife traveled across America in
search of butterflies. We've never been able to look at an index card
the same way again.
Here's a link to the top 25:
http://www.playboy.com/features/features/25novels/
Search the archive: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/archives/nabokv-l.html
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm