Did Vladimir Nabokov write this book completely or are those diary entries that H.H. is writing prison real diary entries that he really wrote in prison? I know this book is allegedly based off a real story, but I’m confused did Nabokov write it or just arrange the entries… cause in the preface in my book it says he arranged?
by berryruby
5 Comments
It’s all Nabokov’s prose. He’s a master at narrative. Humbert Humbert is certainly what we’d call an unreliable narrator. He insists that Lolita seduced him. Then you have his diary, which Lolita’s mom discovers, leading to crisis. Read Pale Fire. Nabokov tells the story from various points of view, including a poem.
It’s fiction… All of it. Inspired by real events, yes, but fiction up to and including the foreword.
Are you actually asking if one of the most famous works of fiction is fiction?
Everything from Dr. Ray’s fake foreword to the ‘manuscript” onwards is Nabokov’s novel. It’s all one big framing device.
Nice. I’m currently reading Lolita too