I'm a big fan of your literary essays, Michael. I'm not sure what I'd call them, a form of popular scholarship? If you have not encountered Nabokov's memoir, "Speak, Memory," I recommend it.
I particularly appreciate your point here about separating the tale from the teller. My students really struggled with that during my final years of teaching. For many of them, to be taken seriously as a writer you have to also be a good person. And this also creates some double standards. Louise Erdrich writes shockingly about sexual violence and female desire, but she isn't classified as a bad person (nor should she be). We really do live in puritanical times.
Lolita is also one of the funniest books I've read. Although, for me the humor became evident only after my initial read. That's also part of the book's genius–––to make us laugh while a terrible crime is being planned and then committed.
I'm a big fan of your literary essays, Michael. I'm not sure what I'd call them, a form of popular scholarship? If you have not encountered Nabokov's memoir, "Speak, Memory," I recommend it.
I particularly appreciate your point here about separating the tale from the teller. My students really struggled with that during my final years of teaching. For many of them, to be taken seriously as a writer you have to also be a good person. And this also creates some double standards. Louise Erdrich writes shockingly about sexual violence and female desire, but she isn't classified as a bad person (nor should she be). We really do live in puritanical times.
The best books are honest and the characters imperfect.
He was an interesting cat for sure. Thanks for the deep dive Michael.
Lolita is also one of the funniest books I've read. Although, for me the humor became evident only after my initial read. That's also part of the book's genius–––to make us laugh while a terrible crime is being planned and then committed.