Will Baude has been debating whether Van Veen, Ada's hero/anti-hero, is evil or not (he thinks not; co-blogger Jeremy Reff thinks yes.). If Will is not convinced by the more obvious considerations, I remind him that at one point Veen reminisces about visiting some decaying brothel full of child prostitutes. I also remember thinking as I read it that there is some suggestion this was not a one-time thing (I don't have the time to search through the book now for the quote...). Two words, Will: E-vil.
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February 02, 2005
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It is possible to be an asshole and still be stylish, but it's also possible to be stylish and even depraved—delightfully so!—without being an asshole. And Van? Asshole. So.
Posted by: Kip Manley | February 02, 2005 at 09:36 AM
Jeez, is there any doubt? Van Veen is a repulsive sonofabitch who has been tarted up with even more Nabokovian word-glamor than Humbert Humbert.
Huh. Now I wonder if Ada's failings as a novel are due to the excessive weight of the pancake.
Posted by: Carlos | February 02, 2005 at 10:17 AM