Nabokov's inspiration for Humbert Humbert / Norman Douglas
By DawnBookworm2
Curious if anyone here has read Norman Douglas? He’s, in my opinion, the best travel writer I’ve ever come across. I found this old, yellow paperback in a charity shop with “Alone” on the cover, and I grabbed it for 50p (I’m in the UK). I flipped through a few pages right there and honestly wasn’t expecting it to hit so hard—really strong writing and that satirical humour was instantly memorable. Since then I’ve read a bunch of his other stuff too, and it feels like the same deal every time: really good historical detail, plus sharp, funny observations. I looked him up on Wikipedia and I was surprised by how much he seems to have influenced writers like Joyce, Burgess, and Nabokov. After reading that, it kind of clicked for me that Humbert Humbert is based on Douglas—the lonely wanderer, the overlooked scholar, the horrible pederast side of things (and Douglas apparently was accused of pederasty on multiple counts). Also, Nabokov clearly liked him, because South Wind gets referenced in The Real Life of Sebastian Knight, and there’s even a picture of Douglas shown in Lolita. Anyway, has anyone else come across him? I’d love to hear what people think of his books.