Mark, when you do this kind of thing it's called "a strawman
argument." That is, I say something and you reposition what I
say to be something you, or anyone else for that matter, can
easily refute. It's a form of sophistry and unworty of
serious argument. When I say Nabokov uses humor in Lolita to
TAKE THE EDGE OFF WEIGHTY TOPICS, etc, it does not therefore
follow that I think all humor has no substance. I think
Jeeves Takes Charge, for example, is a VERY weighty novel
using hyperbole to make some devestaing comments about the
British social system. My point, which I'm absolutely certain
you fully comprehend at this juncture, is that while there is
humor sprinkled throughout Lolita, Lolita is NOT, like Jeeves
Takes Charge, Forest Gump, or How I Won The War, "a funny
book." What Lolita and all these books mentioned have in
common is that they are written to make the reader think. The
latter three are designed to make the reader laugh
uproariously while thinking. Lolita is designed to give the
reader an occasional smile while considering the
circumstances in life that can create this sort of dangerous
situation.
Patrick King
---
DJ-Anonyme@webtv.net wrote:
> Patrick:
>
> "First, I am not 'oblivious' to the humor in
Lolita.
> I simply don't
> believe humor is the main objective of the novel
as
> it is in Jeeves
> Takes Charge for example. Others have referred
to
> Lolita as 'a very
> funny novel.' It is not a funny novel. It is a
novel
> that is seasoned
> with mild humor to take the edge off the
very
> weighty questions it poses
> about European and American society in the 1950s.
.
> . ."
>
> I haven't read Lolita (though now I'm
very
> interested), but I'm
> increasingly getting the impression you
believe
> "funny" and "weighty"
> are mutually exclusive. Which is Mark Twain?
Lewis
> Carroll? Jonathan
> Swift? Oscar Wilde? Or, bringing it closer
to
> home, Charles Willeford?
> I see no reason something can't be both.
>
> Mark
>
>
>
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