THE NEWYORKER, JANUARY 18, 2021 3
THE ORIGINS OF “LOLITA”
Ian Frazier, in writing about his per
sonal history with Vladimir Nabokov’s
“Lolita,” does not mention Sarah Wein
man’s 2018 book, “The Real Lolita:
The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and
the Novel That Scandalized the World”
(“Rereading ‘Lolita,’ ” December 14th).
Weinman reported a number of de
tails about the story on which Nabo
kov may have based his novel. In 1948,
Horner, who was then eleven years old,
was abducted and sexually assaulted.
Two years after she was rescued, she
died in a car accident. It may still be
defensible to view “Lolita” as a work
of isolated literary creation, but it is
becoming less socially acceptable to
view the rape of a child metaphori
cally. In discussing the evolution of his
understanding of the novel, Frazier
passes over the book’s basis in reality.
Jessica Johnson
Toronto, Ont.Frazier points out that “Lolita” con
tains no explicit references to Russian
places or literature, and has very little
Russian character at all. Even so, the
book can be read as a satirical response
to Dostoyevsky, whom Nabokov, a
displaced liberal aristocrat, detested.
As in “Crime and Punishment,” the
protagonist in “Lolita” is a criminal
as victim, and pedophilia is a major
theme in both novels. Humbert may
be seen as an embodiment of Svi
drigailov, the childabusing aristocrat
who mockingly embraces Raskol
nikov as a kindred spirit. Nabokov
also situates Lolita’s death in Alaska—
which is a hop, skip, and a jump from
Siberia, where Raskolnikov served
his sentence.
Andy Leader
North Middlesex, Vt.BONES OF THE HIMALAYAS
Douglas Preston, in his piece on the mys
terious human remains found around
Roopkund Lake, tells a thrilling story
that highlights how far scientific study
of ancient people’s genomes has ad
vanced in recent decades (“The Skele
ton Lake,” December 14th). But, all too
often, celebrations of paleogenomics
overshadow the ethical considerations
of field work. The sprint to study DNA
extracted from human remains has been
described by some as a reckless “bone
rush,” or “vampire science”; research on
genomes from across the globe, includ
ing such places as South Africa and
New Caledonia, has raised questions
about how to examine human origins
without the participation of those whose
history is under the microscope. Local
communities do not seem to object to
scientific work at the Himalayan lake,
but a lack of criticism is not always con
sent. Given that paleogenomics inves
tigates the heritage of millions of peo
ple, and disturbs the remains of those
who cannot speak for themselves, we
must work toward an ethical paradigm
that includes explicit collaboration.
Chip Colwell
Editor-in-chief, Sapiens
Denver, Colo.
Preston explores the history of human
ity in the Himalayas without mention
ing the role of caste in South Asia. An
increasingly influential corner of Indian
society is using studies that track migra
tion into South Asia to assert an Aryan
identity and mark themselves as superior
to others, in terms of both religion and
caste. Questions about human history in
South Asia are entangled with the poli
tics of who belongs in Narendra Modi’s
India. Although this isn’t directly at issue
in Preston’s article, readers of The New
Yorker should know the stakes involved
when it comes to the interpretation of
genetic studies like the one he describes.
Akanksha Awal
Fellow in Social Anthropology
University of Oxford
Oxford, England
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