Mr. Powelstock.
I find it very interesting that you recommend me an intertext without having read the text itself (Evison's
Lulu).
As a matter of fact, I'll take that euro.
I admit that Will Miller (Evison's protagonist) is arguably as much like Van Veen as he is like Humbert Humbert. However Lulu doesn't resemble Ada Veen in the least. Ada is haughty, intelligent and articulate—above all, she consents to her eventual sexual relationship with Van. For goodness' sake, she helps write the book.
Evison's Lulu, on the other hand, is fractured, sentimental and helpless. Largely voiceless, she is a child, much like Dolores Haze is a child, being wrecked by the lusts of a family member.
So even though Will and Lulu are coevals, the configuration of their relationship much more closely mimics that of Humbert and Lolita than that of Van and Ada.
Mr. Kelly-Bootle.
First. Evison, age 39, isn't as young as you might think. He has been writing screen plays and radio shows for most of his adult life.
As regards Humbert's remorse: my criticism was not that Will (Evison's protagonist) should, like Humbert,
feel shame. Rather, I merely suggest that Will's actions should be
considered in their moral dimension. As it stands, the book is morally
anaerobic, which (I think) is irresponsible.
As regards being derivative: I have no trouble with Evison's borrowing or writing in a
mould - but he needs, at least, to add something original, something of
interest, differentiate himself. He does not.
John Minervini
Begin forwarded message:
Date: August 8, 2008 10:41:28 AM EDT
Subject: Re: [NABOKV-L] borrowed from Vladimir Nabokov¹s Loli ta ...
Well
said, SKB. Let me add that you can find concrete dinosaurs not quite in
the middle of, but certainly at the edge of, the desert outside of Los
Angeles. Is California quirky? You bet. As SKB suggests, with polite
restraint, given the plot of Lulu, Ada would probably be a more likely intertext. I'll bet anyone a Euro that the reviewer hasn't read Ada. And
the reviewer's bald statement that "Humbert Humbert narrates Lolita out
of deepest shame for what he did to an innocent girl " is certainly
open to debate. I haven't read Evison's novel, but I certainly
wouldn't let this superficial review dissuade me from cracking it open
up!
Am I alone in finding this review unsatisfactory?
All private editorial communications, without exception, are read by both co-editors.