On the mat: Unexpected Penguins

For some reason, a large batch of the new Penguin Modern Classics Nabokov edition arrived last week. Perhaps it was a competition I'd forgotten entering; perhaps it was the wrong name on the label; or perhaps they've noticed this blog's interest in covers and were seeking an endorsement. In which case disappointment awaits: Pentagram's designs, drawings on pale, wallpaperish backgrounds, are insipid.

Let's start with Laughter in the Dark, illustration by Astrid Chesney:

Score one for fidelity to the text - the object of our hero Albinus' affections is indeed a cinema usherette; but despite the ominous red puddle of light, the picture is bloodless. Nabokov lays emphasis on how tightly the girl's dress fits about the arms and bosom, her "pale, sulky, painfully beautiful face": the picture isn't getting any of that. Not a patch on the old Morton Dimonstein cover.

Proceeding to Lolita:

Illustration by Michael Gillette. This is better, emphasising Nabokov's delicacy rather than the supposed pornographic element, and escaping the image of Sue Lyons in the Kubrick film. Post-war America is caught nicely by the car and power-lines (the theme continues on the back). But why is she dark-haired and pink-skinned, not "honey-hued"? And again, I'm not getting sensuous; I'm not getting amour fou.  

For comparison, here's the 1980 edition, with a heavily colourised still from the film:

A different kind of wrong. The design is a mess (why that hideous thick black line?), and it vulgarises Humbert's almost courtly perviness; but at least you know it's about sex, and it has a kitschiness that's not out of line. An interesting discussion of Lolita covers, with links to extensive galleries, here. Martin McLellan particularly likes this one:

"Balthus and Nabokov mined the same metaphor in their art in their different mediums. Balthus’ image is every bit as disturbing as reading about Lolita’s sexual knowledge and aggression..."

Agreed; but this competes too hard with Nabokov - less nymphet than goblin. I used to own this one, but got rid of it: too scary to keep around the house.

Some of the other new Nabokovs are more successful, within the limits of Pentagram's template; I'll post a couple of them later, maybe. Meanwhile - Penguin press office, if you're reading, I bet I could find something nice to say about the new Central European Classics.

Comments

[JRSM]

I've the same scary 'Lolita'. The similar-era 'Laughter in the Dark', with a scary de Lempicka girl on the front, is also a good one.

Ah, those Central European Classics. I can't wait until they come out. I went to the US arm of a certain online bookshop the name of which Lee Harvey Oswald would find familiar, and was able to preorder the ten of them for a total of Aus$75, which is ridiculously cheap. But then I got an email from the Penguin press office, and could have had them free (and earlier), so now I feel rather less clever.

I must stop wittering on.

[Robert Hanks]

I didn't know that Lempicka.

Check this one out: http://www.flickr.com/photos/7914634@N06/1563674446

There's an online bookshop called the Texas School Book Depository?

[JRSM]

Robert Maguire! I had no idea he'd done any Nabokovs.