Quote:
Originally Posted by issybird
^^sun surfer's said that it's up to the members' judgment.
As I posted elsewhere, I think Lolita is clearly an American novel. Nabokov was a US citizen, the book was written in English and it's set in the USA. An American novel must perforce have been written by an American.
I think sometimes you have to be squishy to get it right.
|
I agree with Issybird. It would be stretching things to say Nabokov can't qualify because he was a naturalised American citizen. In a broad, cultural sense he is "from" America--from the American literary tradition.
He's an American version of Joseph Conrad. Conrad was born in Poland, spoke English with an accent, became a UK citizen and is regarded by everyone as the greatest English novelist post-Dickens. Conrad represents, contributed to and is from the English literary tradition--not the Polish.
Nabokov is in a very similar position.