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Re: greatest novel of all is lost out there ...
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The New Straits review says that "According to legend, Nabokov was so
distraught after finishing Lolita, he almost burned it."
Is this so? All I ever heard was that while writing "Lolita" he became
so discouraged with the outcome that he almost burned it, and that Vera
stopped him. That's a purely aesthetic matter, though, not one of
guilt; once he mastered the story, VN was quite pleased with his
creation.
The poem cited was news to me, but it sounds very tongue-in-cheek.
Is it possible the reviewer conflated Nabokov's story with that of
Gogol, who was indeed so distraught over the second half of "Dead
Souls" that he committed it to the flames?
Rodney Welch
Columbia, SC
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distraught after finishing Lolita, he almost burned it."
Is this so? All I ever heard was that while writing "Lolita" he became
so discouraged with the outcome that he almost burned it, and that Vera
stopped him. That's a purely aesthetic matter, though, not one of
guilt; once he mastered the story, VN was quite pleased with his
creation.
The poem cited was news to me, but it sounds very tongue-in-cheek.
Is it possible the reviewer conflated Nabokov's story with that of
Gogol, who was indeed so distraught over the second half of "Dead
Souls" that he committed it to the flames?
Rodney Welch
Columbia, SC
Search the archive: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/archives/nabokv-l.html
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu,chtodel@cox.net
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm