''Lo's Diary'' ( it, Diario di Lo) is a 1995 novel () by
Pia Pera
Pia Pera (12 March 1956 – 26 July 2016) was an Italian novelist, essayist, and translator.
Born in Lucca, the daughter of the jurist Giuseppe, a noted translator of Pushkin into Italian Pera started her own writing career in 1992, with the shor ...
, retelling
Vladimir Nabokov
Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov (russian: link=no, Владимир Владимирович Набоков ; 2 July 1977), also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin (), was a Russian-American novelist, poet, translator, and entomologist. Bo ...
's 1955 novel ''
Lolita
''Lolita'' is a 1955 novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. The novel is notable for its controversial subject: the protagonist and unreliable narrator, a middle-aged literature professor under the pseudonym Humbert Humber ...
'' from the point of view of "Dolores Haze (Lolita)".
It depicts Dolores as a
sadist and a controller of everyone around her; for instance, she enjoys killing small animals. It also says that Dolores did not die in childbirth,
Humbert Humbert
''Lolita'' is a 1955 novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. The novel is notable for its controversial subject: the protagonist and unreliable narrator, a middle-aged literature professor under the pseudonym Humbert Humber ...
did not kill Quilty, and that all three are still alive. Most notably, the novel takes the interpretation of Humbert as being unattractive or
repulsive: he even loses his teeth at one point.
Reception
Reception was mixed to negative, with critics agreeing that it did not live up to the source material. ''
Entertainment Weekly
''Entertainment Weekly'' (sometimes abbreviated as ''EW'') is an American digital-only entertainment magazine based in New York City, published by Dotdash Meredith, that covers film, television, music, Broadway theatre, books, and popular cul ...
'' said it "drags down Nabokov's blackly satiric vision, set in atomic-age suburban America, to the level of a cynical 1990s teen sex comedy".
Kirkus Reviews
''Kirkus Reviews'' (or ''Kirkus Media'') is an American book review magazine founded in 1933 by Virginia Kirkus (1893–1980). The magazine is headquartered in New York City. ''Kirkus Reviews'' confers the annual Kirkus Prize to authors of fic ...
considered it "a mix of wit and tedium in near-equal parts".
''
Publishers Weekly
''Publishers Weekly'' (''PW'') is an American weekly trade news magazine targeted at publishers, librarians, booksellers, and literary agents. Published continuously since 1872, it has carried the tagline, "The International News Magazine of B ...
'' found it to be "compelling", with "Nabokov's subtle and elegant prose" being replaced by an "authentic adolescent tone";
''
Time
Time is the continued sequence of existence and events that occurs in an apparently irreversible succession from the past, through the present, into the future. It is a component quantity of various measurements used to sequence events, to ...
'', however, felt that the prose was "undistinguished" and "far too precocious and knowing for even the brightest kid".
Legal issues
In 1998,
Dmitri Nabokov
Dmitri Vladimirovich Nabokov (russian: Дми́трий Влади́мирович Набо́ков; May 10, 1934February 22, 2012) was an American opera singer and translator. Born in Berlin, he was the only child of Russian parents: author Vlad ...
(Vladimir's son, and executor of his father's literary estate) sued to stop the publication of the book in England, France, and the United States,
claiming
copyright infringement
Copyright infringement (at times referred to as piracy) is the use of works protected by copyright without permission for a usage where such permission is required, thereby infringing certain exclusive rights granted to the copyright holder, s ...
.
Farrar, Straus and Giroux
Farrar, Straus and Giroux (FSG) is an American book publishing company, founded in 1946 by Roger Williams Straus Jr. and John C. Farrar. FSG is known for publishing literary books, and its authors have won numerous awards, including Pulitzer ...
cancelled their planned publication pending the outcome of the lawsuit;
[ eventually, a settlement was reached whereby Nabokov would contribute a preface to the book]royalty payment
A royalty payment is a payment made by one party to another that owns a particular asset, for the right to ongoing use of that asset. Royalties are typically agreed upon as a percentage of gross or net revenues derived from the use of an asset o ...
s with a $25,000 advance (which he donated to PEN International
PEN International (known as International PEN until 2010) is a worldwide association of writers, founded in London in 1921 to promote friendship and intellectual co-operation among writers everywhere. The association has autonomous Internationa ...
).
See also
* ''The Wind Done Gone
''The Wind Done Gone'' (2001) is the first novel written by Alice Randall. It is a bestselling historical novel that tells an alternative account of the story in the American novel ''Gone with the Wind'' (1936) by Margaret Mitchell. While the ...
''
References
External links
''New York Times'' review
Roh, David S. "Two Copyright Case Studies from a Literary Perspective" ''Law and Literature'' 22, no. 1 (2010): 110-41. Accessed April 16, 2021. doi:10.1525/lal.2010.22.1.110.
{{Lolita
1995 novels
Works about Lolita
Parallel literature