Speak, Memory

Chapter eight, section 3, paragraph 3

In this section of nabokovs autobiography, I see some direct reference to the idea of Nabokov "giving" elements of his personal experience to the characters in his novel writing. In this section he describes a cousin of his, and uses language similar to how he describes the "nymphettes" in his book "Lolita". A couple parts of the description were actually exact duplicates in language. When he describes his eleven year old cousin (a nymphettes age) as having "alice in wonderland hair" I noticed he used that exact description to describe an imaginary nymphette in his novel. He also speaks of the preteen cousins neck, he very often speaks of Lolita's neck. His close observation of his cousin in that scenario and how he took note on several visual details down to her hip movement, and the skin underneath her clothing portrays something very interesting to me.it seems to hint on this experience being one of his early dawnings of sexuality in his adolescence. Nabokov describes his cousin in how his young self saw her, showing in what way he viewed her, without explicitly telling, which Nabokov is very good at. When he describes the boy sitting on his other side, he does not dwell on him for long, and it becomes even more apparent that he is closely watching the girl, a subtlety that takes nabokovs point even further. This section made me wonder if his early adolescent perceptions on girls that were his age at the time (and using his amazing memory to reaaccess those experiences,)  gave him inspiration for a book that is about an adult that is attracted of girls of that age.

creative assignment # 2

Lolita-by Vladamir Nabokov-pg.218

Dolly, think. 

"Man? Oh, that man. Oh yes. Oh, I don't know. He wondered if I had a map. Lost his way, I guess."

We drove on. Humbert gripped the steering wheel, a vein in the side of his neck bulged and pulsed. 

My brave travel buddy inhaled, then managed to croak what sounded like that name he called me.

"Lo."

Clearer now.

"Lo?" the poor man's whisper then turned to a quiet squeal "Who is that man?"

I extended my legs across the dashboard. Relax.

"Hush, Father dearest, there is really no cause for alarm."

We drove on still. I felt my chest involuntarily swell with pride. Dearest. Yes, that's good.

I felt his gaze linger on my profile. I pursed my lips adorably.

More questions.

"Lo, this doesn't feel right...please, tell me the truth? Was he someone from our hometown?"

Staring at my 'daddums,' my eyes wide and innocent, but my mouth slack and mocking, I couldn't help myself. I had to revel for a moment on the sweat that glimmered on his temple. Snapping out of it, I said:

"Father darling, I would never lie to you...I sure hope he isn't a cop. What do you think?"

Our car swerved slightly and slowed down as soon as I uttered those words. 

Brilliant Humbert didn't want to look suspicious.

Truth is, Humbie-humbie is petrified. 

Cheery-cherry-cheeked Dolly-Lo, joyous.

"What do you mean, Lo? I didn't like how you spoke to each other...it was as if you knew each other. Please, tell me something to ease your old man's mind."

Baring my teeth. Don't get mad. Just breathe, Enjoy.

Yes, no problem, Dad.

"I'm only kidding, jeez! Hey, whaddaya say you relax, will ya? You're gonna get one of those panic attacks again."

Humbie-humfuck does his deep breaths. Yes, good, relax.

"Besides, I am parched. Need my big strong daddy to hurry to that rest stop so I can get a drink."

creative assignment

Perspective of Mona-pg.191-192. The Annotated Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Lolita's father really was frightfully overbearing when it came to Dolly. She really was not kidding when she told me her daddems was a total fun-sucker. I thought it was cool that I was hanging out with her dad before she came home, thought I could maybe get into some swell conversation with books and all that. He isn't bad looking either, he wears these jackets that make him look like he should be in a movie, and he has a look that Ive never seen on a dad. This may sound funny but I got kinda jealous of the way he carried on about his "Lo." He loves her a lot, and I mean a lot! Lo is always carrying on about how much of a "positively aggravating creep" her daddems is, but I think his concern was kinda sweet. Any-who,  If I do say so myself I am remarkable mature for my age, or at least thats what all the older boys that like me say. But he didn't seem to wanna chat one bit, all he could do was ask funny questions about her life at school. He practically consulted me like I was a grown up, asking all about what I thought of "Lo" and tons of questions about what she did at the ball. In my natural charming way I tried to engage the guy in some good old book talk and he wasn't about to stray from his topic of choice. Dolly had told me that when it came to her dad he liked to talk to youths, especially smart girls like me, so I gave it a shot and he just looked at me suspiciously! The even weirder thing that happened was, after Mr. too-good-for-me Humbert shot down my desire for a stimulating conversation, Dolly came in through the door and just about glared at us! she practically told me that me and Hum would have some things in common, but when we came in she looked just as suspicious as her dad. What a strange place that house was.

The annotated Lolita # 7

1. Losing Lo. Part Two: Chapters 18-20.
2. Finding Lo. Part Two: Chapters 27-29.
3. Killing Quilty. Part Two: Chapters 33-end.

Losing Lo:  one thing that's struck me in this chapter was when Humbert had failed to memorize the car number of cue. The number he had written down was carefully rewritten by Lolita so as to lead him astray. This part of the story reminds me of earlier in the book when Humbert and Lolita are reading about kidnappings--police instruction emphasizes the importance of keeping record of the few things that could be tracked at that time, one of these things being license plates. That was a foreshadowing of this scene, and since nothing is coincidental with Humbert as the narrator (and Nabokov as the author) it seems this is a mechanism to get the reader to see humbert as a parent protecting his child from a kidnapping. This of course leads the reader to the remembering of the fact that he has kidnapped Lolita. This relates back to the theme of Humbert's constant depiction of other men as the rapists and violators of Lolita, when in fact nobody has violated or stolen her from her life more than he has.

Finding Lo: I find it interesting that in this particularly moving section of the book, Humbert's seems to begin to make his most honest confessions and realizations pertaining to what he's done to Lolita's childhood; in ways that both she and him are aware of. For example he imagines what she is thinking when she speaks of her rejecting Humbert and saying she would quicker return to cue. "He broke my heart. You merely broke my life." So it is peculiar how Lolita seems to sweep this in which they both know under the rug, reuniting with the man that "took her innocence" and not having something to say to him about it in confrontation. However it could be read that her cold disposition was her revenge as she knew it hurt Humbert. I say she sweeps it under the rug not just because of her not seeming angry but she also said "oh, don't cry, I'm sorry I cheated so much, but that's the way things are." Could it be she thinks they were lovers and she cheated, or is she just trying to hurt himin saying this? Since Humbert's lense as a narrator is unreliable it is difficult to tell.

Killing quilty: what struck me in this section was the comedic aspect to the murder. It is very theatrical, not surprisingly due to the work quilty does. it is typical of Humbert as the narrator to make this relevant to how he depicts the characters that he interacts with. Again, nothing seems to be coincidental in the world of nabokov. It's interesting to me how much more revealing Humbert is in his true foolishness in this part of the book. Or more so ,how his fraudulent poetic disposition is  made obvious to other characters in the Book,  quilty seems to mock him. I wonder why he chose to do this at the part of the book that was meant to depict him as a passionate hero if he was completely focused on ego. Is this another one of Humbert's self pitying thought processes, or perhaps masochistic ones?

The Annotated Lolita Post # 6

The whole chain of events right before murdering Quilty can be seen as a game. First there was the maze within the house to find Quilty, then there was the wrestling match, each character within a wrestling "uniform" that represents how Humbert sees them.  Then there is the reading of the poem that is the climax of the game, then the mad-chase/murder scene.

When Humbert observes Quilty's furniture at his point of entry into his home, he points out a library full of flowers (Nabokov's touch perhaps) and a polar bear skin rug. These seem to convey a sort of flashy luxury that I was surprised to see Humbert did not blatantly ridicule or criticize. He looks about the house for Quilty feeling crazed and insane, but not necessarily enraged. In a way, although Humbert goes to Quilty to murder him, his approach in a lot of ways is more emotional than angry. Once Humbert finally finds Quilty within the house, after an almost humorous conversation/wrestling match they finally settle down and Humbert reads him some poetry.

Quilty, even with a gun pointed at him, mocks Humbert as well as portrays the perspective that I feel society would see his poem in. It is almost like he is the non emotional rational voice commenting to show the insanity and emotion that Humbert is radiating. Even though he also likes young girls, it does not seem to consume his life like it does Humbert's, which is why he doesn't relate to Humbert's writing. Then again, he did have a gun pointed at him so his reaction might not mean much. This is a difficult scene to get to the bottom of. What I do know is that Quilty's somewhat understandable response to the poem is that: though there is pretty language, the notes of lust are clear, and his phrasing is crazed and repetitive.

 As a reader, at this point I was starting to actually feel sympathy for Humbert--the clumsy affair that lead up to the murder was as pathetic as it was disturbing. it's almost as if Humbert made Quilty out to be his more cruel and perverted double of himself, one with the double the confidence and wealth that he had, one that knew better than he did on how to function in society...also one that was able to sample the same desires that Humbert had without letting them ruin his life. Humbert in dark and serious attire, Quilty in a tacky robe with his hairy chest exposed. The way Humbert dramatizes and compares the two characters side by side, as well as once again painting himself to be the poetic and broody part of the equation which is how he likes to see himself, is one of the many things about this section that brings up the issue of the reliability of the narrator.

The Annotated Lolita Post # 5

1. Do you know where your children are? Lolita is up to something and Humbert doesn't know what she's up to. Make a catalog of the signs that she is doing something behind her stepfather's back. To win, you must find at least seven.

There are several signs Lolita is up to something up until she takes off with Cue.

1) Before or in the beginning of Humbert and Lolita's trip through the midwest, Lolita disappeared to use the telephone, claiming to be using the bathroom.

2)Prior and during their journey Lolita has a newfound interest in the map and stops made on their journey. On her first trip with Humbert she seemed to have little interest in these things. At first Humbert thinks it to be a sign of maturing, but whenever they arrive at the destinations she urges them to go to based on her phony curiosity or nostalgia, her interest feigns. She is baiting Humbert to take a certain route because she is up to something, but can not hide her boredom with the locations themselves, throwing off her sharade.

3)On a day that Lolita seemed to had bee looking forward to, she complained of feeling "out of sorts". She charmed Humbert with the desire to stay in bed with fresh fruits and magazines. She put on her most adorable act, and when he runs her errands for her he thinks fondly of Lolita and feels a sense of "well being." When he gets home she sees she has been out, her sandals were dirty with gravel and her lipstick had been smudged. This was the first time he got a real forbodeing sense that she was up to something.

4) Humbert had been feeling followed for a while on their journey, a man has been keeping a safe distance behind them but always seemed to be there. At a stop Humbert spies Lolita speaking to the man and senses the familiarity she has with him. When he comes back she claims that he was asking directions.

5)Lolita lies where her and another girl from Beardsley had gone, changing her story constantly as Humbert questions her. It is apparent that she hasnt been any of the places she said she was at and that she was definitely not with a Beardsley girl, or any girl at all.

6)When Humbert is finally at the point where he is about to confront the man that had been following them in a car a safe distance behind them, he gets out of the car leaving Lolita in the front seat. As he approaches the car, Lolita started the car that was parked, later claiming that she was saving the day as the car began to move by itself. On top of that, as he was approaching the persuer, he made a quick U-turn and took off. After Lolita lies to Humbert, she immerses herself in the map, again showing an example of a strange newfound interest for the route of their journey that doesn't seem to be consistent with her attitude when they arrive at their rest stop destinations.

7)Possibly the most calculating clue was the fake telephone call from Beardsley that tore Humbert away from Lolita giving her a chance to converse with her persuer. Everything after that point seems to unfold in front of Humbert as both Lolita and her persuer seem to gain confidence, while at the same time Humbert's health fades, making him more helpless to the situation.

The annotated Lolita post # 4

"This daily headache in the opaque air of this tombal jail is disturbing, but I must perservere. Have written more than a hundred pages and not got anywhere yet. My calender is getting confused. That must have been around August 15, 1947. Don't think I can go on. Heart, head--everything. Lolita, Lolita, Lolita, Lolita, Lolita, Lolita, Lolita, Lolita, Lolita, Lolita. Repeat till the page is full, printer."

In this quote I see elements of Nabokov's observation of Synesthesia, and if not, an observation on how Humbert seeks refuge in numbers and names, ritual compulsions surrounding his main obsession--Lolita. In this passage Humbert Humbert is in his jail cell,  and seems to be having the beginning of some kind of anxiety attack. He explains his feelings of claustrophobia, adding the sight sense being "opaque" to a the touch sense of feeling air in his jail cell, this is when I see the strongest example of synesthesia. I also see that he has an abnormally sharp memory for certain facts and symbols.The narrator notes that his calendar is getting "confused" personifying an object and adding to the neuroticism of the passage. Humber notes that the date "must have been around August 15, 1947" as if that is sounds anything like an estimate! His way of thinking allows him to remember exact dates perfectly. Furthermore, I notices that he writes the name "Lolita" ten times before stating that he repeats until the page is full. Because of his quirks that are so apparent in this passage, I can't see this to be a coincidence. Could it be ten times since august is the 10th month of the year? This makes me want to comb through the book to find any other  patterns throughout his obsessive journey that come in 10's. He explains that he has written "more than a hundred pages" and he hasn't gotten anywhere yet. This can definitely be said since he dwells for so long on each detail, name, symbol and number the plot moves much slower than it would otherwise. This passage shows he has a heightened awareness of his stationary position, leading him to this mania. He has a seemingly deluded perspective on time as he is spending much of his time obsessing over a memory of something that doesn't even exist anymore. Magical "Lolita" is no longer Lolita, not only is she passed away at this point but when she did she was no longer a nymphet. Humbert knows this, but is much more content in his mental mind games and imaginary recollection of memory than with reality. I believe he finds the jail cell "tombal" because it is making him very difficult for him to escape reality and daydream beyond what he writes in his notebook.

The annotated Lolita part # 3

It's apparent that Humbert finds the natural traits of a fully developed woman to be vulgar, he becomes disgusted by Valeria after the one thing that makes her romantically tolerable is recognized to be an illusion. He seems to also have some disdain for people that are uneducated or impoverished, or those who lacked grace. However, on the condition of little girls being compared to grown women, his feelings on what was vulgar and acceptable changed depending on which he was observing.

 "The bleached curl revealed its root, the down turned to prickles on a shaved shin, the mobile moist mouth...instead of a pale little gutter girl, Humbert Humbert had on his hands a large, puffy, short-legged, big breasted and practically brainless baba." (Pg.26)


 Humbert doesn't see these traits as vulgarity when it's coming from a young girl that he finds desirable. That's why Valeria's simpleness and naivety when she was performing more of the part of a young girl was actually something Humbert originally enjoyed, but when it became a reality that she was also a grown woman beyond being styled to look young, those same traits turned into being common and seen as dirty. From cute and innocent, she became brainless, and this happened at the same time when her facade revealed not to be something she could keep constant. All the things he finds endearing, when they turn out to be fake (even though he knew they were not real but decided to trick himself for his fantasy) they turn into something he is disgusted by. He knew her hair was bleached blonde, but when the root is revealed the fantasy dissolves, leaving him with only the judgment that she is a common woman that does things like bleach her hair. Although Humbert must've known that as a grown woman she grew coarser body hair, he was forced to come to terms with it when he felt the sharpness of it, that was when she went from a woman with attributes that reminded him of. Nymphet to one that actually needed to maintain her appearance (and sometimes failed to do so) another instance where this woman simply being of her age and being human destroyed his fantasy and therefore switched his whole perception of her. He thinks of a pale little gutter girl as a young girl who may have seemingly vulgar qualities but because he finds this attractive on a young girl it is infinitely different when a grown woman does the same things.

The Annotated Lolita Post # 2

"The only definite sexual events that  can remember as having occurred before my thirteenth birthday...and some interesting reactions on the part of my organism to certain photographs, pearl and umbra, with infinitely soft partings, in Pichon's sumptuous La Beaute Humaine that I had filched from under a mountain of marble-bound Graphics in the Hotel Library." The Annotated Lolita p.11

In this passage Humbert Humbert recalls his brief moments of sexual awakening before he meets his first love and nymphetic inspiration, Annabel. One of the moments he describes is when he sees this photograph that he describes. On first read, when trying to find if this was a real reference Nabokov was making, I found out that Le Beaute Humaine (translated means The Human Beauty) is not a real book or collection. I found this interesting because of all the real references Nabokov makes, it is hard to tell if he is purposefully being fictional, and wanted to create an imaginary image for the reader, or if it's a nudge to the reader that the actual character that he created may be lying, or if it's simply a trick to confuse a learned reader and deceive a more passive one. When he describes "Pearl and Umbra" those could possibly be a description of colors within the photograph or of two women, it is hard to tell. The first things that came to mind when he mentioned "soft partings" was either the partings of the brush strokes of beautiful women, or even just beautiful colors, or whether he means the partings of women's genitals or legs. When he says that he had "filched" them I believe he is trying to emphasize his youth and carefree attitude, the fact that he just snatched up something that brought him this sort of pleasure without any guilt whatsoever. I feel he is emphasizing this because in his mind Annabel represents what changed everything or him, what turned him to a happy, healthy sexually charged adolescent to being guilty about his desires, and what he manages to "steal" from young girls.

The Annotated Lolita post # 1

The difference in Nabokov's banal aspects to his writing in his first chapter of Lolita as opposed to a writer that, for instance, was consciously looking to make a character relatable, is that Nabokov is actually creating distance between the reader and the true madness of his first person character. As noted throughout the readings, and within our class discussions thus far, Nabokov's fascination with games leads him to play games with the reader. Also his noted interest in theatre has identified theatrical effects within his writing, as noted in the introduction. This could create problems with learning the identity of the characters, they seem to be trying on different "masks". I feel that he exercises both of these concepts in the  beginning. The first person protagonist goes on about his tortured love which may be seen as a banal approach to the subject, but in giving a bit of a "wink" to the reader (or audience) about his prose, the protagonist is obviously self consciously writing.

 In this way Humbert Humbert is responsible for the banality, not Nabokov, and it has been expressed that it is something he is doing on purpose. The reader sees that although the said "banality" is there in the first chapter, it is very purposely there, not to sincerely reach the audience baring the soul of the protagonist but to create allusion. In the introduction to this book, it quotes Nabokov in Speak, Memory, he compares the composition of a chess problem to that of writing in first person, particularly first person in an account of one's isolating and difficult memoir. It is also noted that The Enchanted wasn't published not because of the content, but because the third person narration made the groundwork to Lolita lack the depth that Lolita had. Nabokov states that the book also had  the nymphet without a "voice." He had done extensive research on who the main character's fantasy nymphet would be, (some very unconventional research) and it was important to him that she wasn;t simply a prop but an organic character made "from scratch".

 Obviously Nabokov is very concerned with the complexity and depth of his characters and wants them to embody a full personality so he can be distanced as an author, this is one of the ways they say he is a "puppeteer".  The originality of Lolita is said to be the game-like combination of deeply moving the reader and engaging them, maybe at times with seemingly banal content and beautiful prose, but also confusing them and adding distance when "verbal figurations" make things more confusing and the madness deepen of the character he creates, destroying the value of the banality but in a way also strengthening it. Could the banality be the "pawns" on his chess board? He introduces the protagonist as hopelessly in love, a brooder and a poet, a slave to his vices and obviously in a lot of trouble. This could be considered typical material for a dramatic novel but that is very purposeful.  As it has been discussed in class, as well as in the introduction to this book and other readings, Nabokov tirelessly pays attention to detail and has endless intention behind each thing he creates. This also has been noted in his personal character, his fantastic memory of his past students to his desire to have all of his interview answers written before being submitted. Nabokov is not impulsive with what he creates and is methodical about where he reveals and keeps his distance, much like the game player that he is said to be.

The Enchanter post # 2

In the book The Enchanter, Nabokov reveals one of the many things that makes him such a fabulous writer, which is his sophisticated take on conveying the emotions of the main character. Something I find really impressive is how, even though The Enchanter is written in third person, he can describe so vividly what the main character is experiencing...not through describing emotion and thought in a straightforward sense, but through the sounds and sights that he hears.

"He dared not kiss those angular nipples, those long toes with their yellowish nails. His eyes returned from everywhere else to converge on the same suedelike fissure, which seemed to come alive under his prismatic stare." pg.72

In this passage Nabokov states the will of the protagonist and what it is he looks at...no direct descriptions on how he is feeling, yet through descriptive language of what he "dare not" do, and how he sees the girl, is what makes it clear. It's the way he describes the girl that conveys the layers of his emotions. From this passage I see frustration, intense desire, obsession and finally, fear. The character is so afraid of the girl waking up, as well as being caught by an outside person. Yet he is also right in the heat of his fantasy; he is now seizing the opportunity to take advantage of the girl while she sleeps. He describes her body through textures, shapes and sizes. She has become so fetishized by him, that his desire has turned every aspect to her into an object within itself. It is written that the character's eyes "returned from everywhere", alluding to the fact that as he was looking "everywhere"  at her naked body, the way its written "returned" and "converged" hints that his eyes were darting everywhere and then meeting in one place. In my opinion this plays on the idea that his eye movements suggested he had multiple eyes that all met and rested at the "object" he is most obsessed with, which was her vagina. He seems to describe it like he would furniture "suedelike". His nerves also showed in the sense that as he was looking at her vagina, he said it seemed to come alive. The reader knows every slight movement made him afraid and it seems he was so paranoid as well as "enchanted" that he was imagining things.The way he described his stare as "prismatic" also shows his paranoia, hinting that his stare was dissonant and obvious, bright, sharp and loud, that it could also wake her even without his touching her.  These are a few of the many ways Nabokov communicates with his reader in this scene without making any third person observations, he let the actual present scene speak for itself.

The Enchanter post # 1

The Enchanter was a very interesting read. This is the more raw and uninhibited precursor book to Lolita. Lolita had the same controversial topic, but a slower plot escalation and richer character personality descriptions. The expansion to both of these concepts in Lolita created more depth beyond the choices that was made by the characters and the events that took place. Because of this difference, I was pleasantly surprised and impressed to find that Nabokov's belief on a good writer not getting too carried away with his stories, and also not trying to make the character relatable, held true even on a book as grating and shocking as this one. This truly was a fearless book to write, it seemed to focus much on the groundwork for Humbert's impulsive and not very dignified side, which was what made Lolita be described as pornographic.

Furthermore, in him writing this as a sort of groundwork for the ideas in Lolita, it shows how his skills as a writer in combination with his beliefs on writing make his work so special. This groundwork really shows how Humbert Humbert's tenderness for Lolita in the following book, (which was more emphasized and noted than the tenderness that this character has for his desired preteen girl), had nothing to do with the writer attempting to make a difficult subject more palatable for the reader, but it was purely an expansion, an enriching on a character that was multifaceted. To be more clear, this book as groundwork proves that none of Nabokov's writing is to concretely get an idea across through extra words or phrasing, nothing is there for the purpose of delivery to the reader. The Enchanter was a base in ideas and characters, Lolita added depth and richness, not purposeful palatability.

The tortured protagonist in The Enchanter seemed to be the "id" of Humbert in Lolita, (I smirk as I chose this concept because I know how much Nabokov would hate this terminology). Much of the writing was mainly based on his streams of perverse consciousness and frustration with the difficulties that arose in his situation in his desperate journey to possess the little girl of his dreams. I saw a lot of the writing  in The Enchanter as a scrambling of desire attempting to be put into a plan of action. His future with the girl was not carefully though out out as Humbert's Lolita's was, and he definitely did not think much of her well being. When imagining his life with her following her essential abduction, he thought only of ways to keep her ignorant and still a player in the game that was his fantasy.

...the edenic discoveries that awaited her, the way the amusing traits peculiar to bodies of different sex, seen at close range, would appear extraordinary yet natural and homey to her....she would be entertained only with storybook images (the pet giant, the fairy-tale forest, the sack with its treasure)....he was convinced that, as long as novelty still prevailed and she did not look around her, it would be easy..."p.54

This character imagines a life with her that only highlights the things that he finds attractive about engaging with a young girl. That is the protagonist playing the role of introducing her to all things sexual as she is still innocent, and keeping her this way and childlike as he doesn't expose her to much more than fictional characters in children's story books. He couldn't bare to think of her possibly taking things into her own hands and getting curious or rebellious, as he seemed too enveloped with desire to logically weigh out the possibilities.  Humbert also saw that she was to be kept fairly isolated, so as he wouldn't get caught or she wouldn't be "stolen" from him, and he was delusional as well as enchanted by Lolita, but he never questioned that she would try to rebel. He had multiple plans for every course of action that he took, he never questioned that Lolita may want to stray. He tried to enrich her life with education and material things in hopes she would be happy with an isolated life with him. He didn't seem as blind with desire as love for Lolita, he hoped that she would not ruin him but he thought that she might. This shows an idea of what sort of groundwork The Enchanter was and how it helped the developing of Lolita.