Lolita and Laide: The Curse of Youth

Famously, Nabokov’sNabokov, Vladimir. LolitaLolita comes to the reading public with charges of eroticism and paedophiliaPaedophilia. The less renowned Dino Buzzati’sBuzzati, Dino. Un Amore was accused of ‘lolitism’ and sordid sexuality. Notwithstanding the common view, both novels lend themselves to an alternative reading in which adult characters project onto much younger lovers their unattainable search for youth. Written from the male’s perspective, the wholeness promised by youth must remain at the level of fantasy. It is the very nature of desire, endlessly replicating itself in order to exist. Desire is the lack of possession. While youth is unattainable for the about-to-be-old Humbert and Dorigo, the texts come with an elegant solution: Before death, the artful image of youth can grant the illusion of immortality.