THE CARROLLIAN
The Lewis Carroll Journal
Site Search Past Issue Archive Site Index
HOMEPAGE | CONTACTS AND OFFICERS | PAST ISSUE ARCHIVE | CONTRIBUTORS' GUIDE | SUBSCRIBE
   LIST BY ISSUE  |  SEARCH  |  LIST BY AUTHOR

   
Article Abstract
Title

Through a Looking-Glass Darkly - Lolita: Alice's Precocious Offspring

Author

Michael O'Connor

Published

The Carrollian - Issue 6 (Autumn 2000), pages 3 - 10

Abstract

Examining Vladimir Nabokov's novel Lolita suggests that the Russian author was strongly influenced by Alice (the first literary work he translated into his own language) and that the latter work could be read as a darker version of the former. A brief summary of Nabokov's plot is provided, and the books are compared structurally, linguistically and thematically to reveal their numerous similarities. Nabokov's Alice references throughout are quoted, and the many other authors whose works he interweaves into the narrative are listed. The article also details references to and parallels with Carroll in Nabokov's other writings, both fiction and non-fiction, and concludes with suggestions for further reading.

 Supplementary Keywords: influence
 
The Carrollian, ISSN: 1462-6519 ~ Published by The Lewis Carroll Society ~ Registered Charity No. 266239