Lolita Lite?
The first couple chapters of Reading Lolita in Tehran have made an unexpected first impression. The "journey of self discovery" tale shows inklings of being every bit as maudlin as I would have expected, but Ms. Nafisi displays a facility with the English language that adumbrates a careful study of Nabokov. It will be interesting to see, as the lives unfold, if her craft extends to the knife edge comedic analysis of Humbert. There is sufficient light in any one of the four novels Nafisi has chosen as lodestars for her group's journey to shed many interesting shadows on our lives as Nafisi's readers.
I'm curious whether you all see her setting up her students as Lolitas or Humberts? The disadvantaged innocents in the grip of Iran's McFate or dastardly madmen who paint themselves to any color they please by understanding the slippery nature of defined morality?
I'm curious whether you all see her setting up her students as Lolitas or Humberts? The disadvantaged innocents in the grip of Iran's McFate or dastardly madmen who paint themselves to any color they please by understanding the slippery nature of defined morality?
posted by Jon K. Houghton | 11:53 AM
4 Comments:
Wow, Kevin, could you please translate your post to conversational English? :-)
I am not too used to 'maudlin' and 'adumbrates'.
George, you of all people don't need assistance with your English. Bust out the dictionaries, the rest of you. Those words are in the book you all chose.
Joe! How cool is it to get a post on the blog from Varna?! I have been intrigued by my further reading (I haven't gotten up to Fitzgerald yet and am still lost in the Nabokov ravings) that, while Nafisi explicitly states that she is not portraying her students as Lolitas, there are many instances when she is clearly doing just that. Not surprisingly, perhaps, she also portrays her students (and implicitly her readers) as Humberts. Perhaps that is her bottom line (and Nabokov's, incidentally) - we are all both. Should that worry us?
My bleeding copy is still on the way from Amazon.com. So, I am wondering 'what the hell are you talking about?'.
(Jason and Brian: Amazon says our copies should be here on Tuesday.)
I read the first three chapters from Joe's copy b4 he left for Europe and I really liked the book, though. Of course, she had not yet started talking about Nabokov.
PS: Joe, just so you know, Scott is in France/Germany now.
From waht I have read so far, Kevin, I get the impression that Nafisi is setting up most of the women to be Lolitas but I wonder about Nassrin. With cryptic statements like, "she didn't make it to the end" describing her and the way that Nafisi's words about her display a profound sadness I wonder what character she will be.
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