On Nabokov

[tarigwaemir]

Stanley Hall on the Feast of St. Jerome

My real life is so tedious that I refuse to talk about it.

Took a break from the other four books I'm reading to sprint through Lolita. It's astonishing how many passages I recognize. Partly because I read and edited a classmate's term paper on the book back in eleventh grade, partly because Steve has shown me passages from the book, and partly because I've just seen it quoted here and there on various lit blogs. It's very clear now that The Defense is an earlier novel--it's much less experimental than Lolita in its use of language--although I'm not sure yet which I prefer. I haven't indulged in reading every single annotation yet, although I do take a peek if something seems to be an allusion that I can't quite pin down. I wish I studied this book in a literature class; I would have loved the process of dissecting it systematically (because, of course, it was constructed systematically).

In book-related news, bibliophages is starting up again! The theme for this round is "Real People in Historical Fiction". Sign up and recommend books! (The minimum has been lowered to three.) Or just sign up to read! (Psst, jaebi_lit, I refrained from recommending Dorothy Dunnett because I figured you would do it.) The deadline for sign-ups is this Friday.

Also, imaginarybeasts released its issue: School Stories. Go read and comment!

Ugh, I want to go home...but I should finish setting up these sequencing reactions first. -_-

Yours &c.

Comments

[uminohikari.livejournal.com]

I only managed to get through half of Lolita, because it was too weird >>''

[troisroyaumes]

Fandom has jaded me; the pedophilia aspect doesn't weird me out at all. You might give it another try in a few years. I think you'll appreciate the prose. I like the narration style: it's first-person perspective at its best.

[jaebi-lit.livejournal.com]

Aaaah! Thanks for the reminder (AND for leaving Dunnett open...how did you know I would rec her? jk ;) )! I meant to sign up but kept forgetting.

[jaebi-lit.livejournal.com]

p.s. Lolita is sooo awesome! It's one o fthose books that I keep meaning to reread because I liked it so much the first time around.

[troisroyaumes]

Yes, I'm definitely enjoying it! The wordplay is delightful. *_*

[jaebi-lit.livejournal.com]

p.s. we should do something sometime! (Er, that sounded vague, I know.) Not this weekend, but maybe the weekend after? Or--are you planning on going to the hardly strictly bluegrass festival in GG park this weekend?

[troisroyaumes]

Yes, we should! Planning on staying in Berkeley this weekend, but I'd love to hang out next weekend! Have anything in mind?

[jaebi-lit.livejournal.com]

There's the parade of naval ships (http://events.sfgate.com/san-francisco-ca/events/show/85015387-2008-parade-of-fleet-week-naval-ships-into-sf-bay) at noon this Saturday, if you're interested.

[jaebi-lit.livejournal.com]

Sorry, I forgot that a friend is visiting this weekend and so I can't do anything on Saturday. How's Sunday for you?

[solidark.livejournal.com]

bibliophages sounds so interesting (particularly this round as I LOVE historical novels) and, just like last time, I'm so tempted to join. But I'm also tempted to participate in nanowrimo this year and with my timetable and the new computer which is now ready to be assembled, I'm afraid this would be too much. A day should have 27 hours and a month 40 days *sigh*

[troisroyaumes]

Ah, that definitely sounds horribly busy. Well, you can still sign up if you change your mind before Friday? Hopefully, there will be a future round that might come at a better time for you.

[schwimmerin.livejournal.com]

I bet you'd like Pale Fire, that's the only Nabokov I've ever read but I liked it.

Any recommendations for a book for me that is relatively short (<300 pages) and/or a fairly quick read? Humor is appreciated but not necessary. :)

[troisroyaumes]

Ah, thanks for the rec! Pale Fire is mentioned rather often in the annotations to Lolita so I think I probably should read it next.

Hm, Terry Pratchett tends to be short and hilarious, though all his books are part of a larger series that might be less amusing to you if you haven't read a lot of fantasy. If you do give him a try, Soul Music or Moving Pictures stand alone pretty well (the first is a parody about rock and roll, and the second is about movies). Also, Diana Wynne Jones writes really charming YA fantasy novels (have you read her?): I'd recommend starting with Howl's Moving Castle or The Lives of Christopher Chant or Tale of Time City.

But I should recommend something less genre-specific...I really liked The Book Thief which is a novel set in Holocaust Germany. Obviously not a funny book, but it's both well-written and easy to read. Quite heartwrenching too. Have you read I Capture the Castle already? It's very good, and I'll eat my metaphorical hat if you don't like it. If you would prefer something more literary and analytical but still entertaining, If on a winter's night a traveler (by Italo Calvino) might appeal to you; it's not precisely intertextual but very metafictional and also a quick read.

Can throw even more recs at you if you want!