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Lolita and Lepidoptery: A Study in Writing Systems, Strategy, and Character Observation
Many moons ago, I thought my life’s goal was to become a literary theorist. During my college years, I devoted my time to developing multiple theses on the works of Vladimir Nabokov. I would spend hours analyzing the hidden meanings and codes embedded in his literature, ranging from Lolita to The Luzhin Defense. However, since most Nabokovians typically complete their graduate studies in comparative literature, focusing on learning Russian and French, I eventually let go of my goal.
Nevertheless, I still find great inspiration in Nabokov and his writing. Primarily because many of the author’s hobbies overlapped with my own. In the introduction to his novel Lolita, it states that Nabokov’s “passion for chess, language, and lepidoptery . . . inspired the most elaborately involuted patterning in his work” (Introduction xxviii). Across his literary works, readers will likely discover recurring points of significance, as nothing in his work is accidental, and I loved finding the hidden chess games and strategies in his writing.
