Nabokov in the Middle of the Night (a nod to Joey Dee)

[Gita]

I imagine Vladimir Nabokov with a booming voice,  broken blood vessels in his cheeks, and a fondness for  pickled herring on black bread eaten late at night by his typewriter.

He once told a friend, "My loathings are simple: Cruelty, stupidity, oppression, and soft music," making him the first person ever to critique the modern mall experience.

What three things could I say, with finality, that I loathe, since loathesomeness is such a moving target? Certainly Nabokov's choices work for me (minus soft music, which is inoffensive), and to those I'd add religous hypocrites and Jagermeister.

 I wish I had known the iconoclastic, brilliant Nabokov, even risking his impatience (or worse), and the same is true of Chekov, Balzac and Dashiell Hammet.

[jkdavies]

And yes, Jagermeister is grim ;)

especially with sherbet...

[Joey Delgado]

Gita, I'm so with you on wanting to meet Hammet. I love his work and heard he could be quite the pain in the ass. But pains in the asses are usually fun to hang out with at least once. Great write, G.

[michael brooks]

First sentence is my favorite here. Great visual.

[Gita]

@Sandra: Nabokov was not on any syllabus. I just kept reading day and night in my adult years. Of the works by authors whose names I dropped, I would highly recommend "Eugenie Grandet" by Balzac. It is a timeless story about human greed! And Dashiell Hammet brought the American detective story/screenplay into its heyday.

[Sandra Davies]

More than anything this (and Joey's Chekhov reference) makes me realise how un-read I am.   A difference in educational syllabi  perhaps?   And yes indeed loathesomeness is a moving target, another thought of yours, incisively expressed.

[Mike Handley]

Love your opening description. With such words, imagining comes easily.

[Angela]

The mall reference was perfect.  Now, if you could have a dinner party for twelve, and pick guests from any time in history, who would you invite?