The Annotated Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov with notes by Alfred Appel, Jr.

The Annotated Nabokov: Part II

I am greatly amused by the fact that I own The Annotated Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov with notes by Alfred Appel, Jr.. I even bought the book after I had read Pale Fire, but I really didn’t think anything of it at the time. If Nabakov knew what I had done, he would surely be laughing at me, but hopefully in a gently ironic way. We would exchange a glance, I would shrug as if to say, “Yes, such a silly thing I did,” and we would chuckle at our little joke.

After reading Pale Fire, it’s hard to take the annotations to Lolita seriously. I keep trying to read it as a narrative. But in fact, there is some really amazing information in there. Just Appel’s introduction alone has enough biographical detail to convince me that Nabokov was the greatest writer of the twentieth century. The actual notes of the text turned what was for me a pretty good story into a work of literary genius—not just because of the clever wordplay, allusions and linguistic hijinks that I could now appreciate, but also because they illuminated basic elements of the plot that I had missed the first time.

It’s nice to know, however, that Appel has a sense of humor about being Lolita’s interpreter. He includes, before the novel proper begins, a page entitled, “In Place of a Note on the Text,” which simply quotes the last section from Pale Fire’s foreword:

…My Foreword has been, I trust, not too skimpy. Other notes, arranged in a running commentary, will certainly satisfy the most voracious reader. Although those notes, in conformity with custom, come after the poem, the reader is advised to consult them first and then study the poem with their help, rereading them of course as he goes through its text, and perhaps, after having done with the poem, consulting them a third time so as to complete the picture. I find it wise in such cases as this to eliminate the bother of back-and-forth leafings by either cutting out and clipping together the pages with the text of the thing, or even more simply, purchasing two copies of the same work which can then be placed in adjacent positions on a comfortable table—not like the shaky little affair on which my typewriter is precariously enthroned now, in this wretched motor lodge, with that carrousel inside and outside my head, miles away from New Wye. Let me state that without my notes Shade’s text simply has no human reality at all since the human reality of such a poem as his… has to depend entirely on the reality of its author and his surroundings, attachments and so forth, a reality that only my notes can provide. To this statement, my dear poet would probably have not subscribed, but, for better or worse, it is the commentator that has the last word.

I love how Kinbote, the character who “wrote” that foreword, tries to tell the reader how to read the book, and insists that without him, the editor, the text would have no meaning. There is some truth to his delusions—Pale Fire would not be Pale Fire without Kinbote’s notes. Lolita, however, does perfectly well on its own. But for me the book is invaluably enriched by Appel’s research and study.

The Annotated Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov with notes by Alfred Appel, Jr.

tags: books book reviews postmodern literature Vladimir Nabokov