11.26.2007

defending lolita (aka i'm always saying the wrong things)

i find more often than not, that when it comes to the internet i'm always saying the wrong things. my problem seems to be that i rely far to heavily on sarcasm in my everyday speech, and in type, sarcasm comes out all wrong. without the inflections in my voice, the hint of a smile on my face, my sarcasm gets misinterpreted as being obnoxious, self-absorbed, or just plain creepy. i'm always sticking my keyboard in my mouth, so to speak.

most of my favorite books are a bit controversial, but nabokov's is probably the most notorious. lolita is kind of disturbing, if you just look at the basic plot. but that's what makes nabokov such a brilliant writer. he draws you in, and makes you start to feel for one of what should be the most vile of anti-heros, humbert humbert. the reader begins to sympathize with humbert, despite of themselves. not to mention that nabokov was famous for playing literary games. there are so many other things going on on top of the basic story, so many literary allusions and subtleties that you could read the book a hundred times and still not understand everything that navokov has going on. it's a beautifully written, not too graphic book about a very disturbing subject. but it's nothing like people think.

anyways, i tried to defend the book to an internet friend recently with little or no success. i feel really bad about this, probably worse than i should. i'm an english major, and i should be able to acurately articulate (in the written word) my feelings reguarding literature without creeping anyone out.

:sigh: like i said, i'm always sticking my keyboard in my mouth. i should probably wait to discuss anything that i feel truly passionate about (such as russian literature) until i've actually meant a person.... : (

i should also get back to writing my presentation.

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