day 13 of the 30 day book challenge

Day 13. Your favorite writer

I never imagined this question to be this hard. I need to have categories, but that would be cheating. I'll read this question as, "Your favorite author in terms of who you would most like to write like, meet or possibly be related to."

"Speak, Memory" changed the way I saw memory, memoir & the importance of my child self in any nonfiction I may someday write. I'll save what else I have to say about that book for tomorrow. Today, I'll show you a bit of the magic that is Vladimir Nabokov.

 Most know him for "Lolita," the novel-turned-film (twice). "Lolita" follows the story of a pedophile and his relationship with the "nymphette" Lolita. (Nabokov also wrote the screenplay of the Kubrick version of the film.) What gets lost in the controversy is his unbelievable ability to sew allusions into each page, in a sense adding an entire collection of text to the one he is creating.

At times, this makes reading difficult. With the annotated version, you want to flip to the back to research each line, to create seams along the allusion's connections. Tip: Read the entire text first. Find what you love about it. Create your own connections. Then, at the end, casually flip through the annotations to find ones that catch your interest. Read the excerpt that includes them. Be blown away.

Tip number two with Nabokov, & another reason I love him: Read the introduction, forward, afterward... every page. Don't. Skip. Anything. These too are part of the text, especially in the case of "Lolita," used to education the novel itself.

These elements–his mastery of language (writing in both Russian & English), his use of allusion & his wit in all parts of the text–will have have smiling, even laughing, in the darkest of moments. If you find yourself laughing at "Pale Fire" or awkwardly smiling while reading "Lolita" in public, I believe this is what makes Nabokov happiest–the unexpected humor that creates an uncommon mix of emotions.

I love him, & I could go on for ages. What I want to say, in summary of my favorite author, is that he is more than worth reading. He is worth reading at least four times–and that doesn't have to include "Lolita." Nabokov wrote in Russian & English, all English texts coming later. Many critics say his best works come from his English writing (as, like these French wines we're drinking, we all tend to mature & develop with age), so set yourself up there. And let yourself laugh with him, even when you feel like you're not supposed to.