Talk:Laughter in the Dark (novel)

Margot's Age IIRC isn't she 16, not 18 when they first meet? —Preceding unsigned comment added by Tricksterson (talk • contribs) 18:26, 14 May 2011 (UTC) --she is in fact 16, and I corrected the mistake with her age.

It seems to be commonly cited that Margot is 16 when she first meets Albinus, but looking back through the sequence when her early life is described I think it's clear she must be somewhat older (at least 17). It's certainly never stated that she is 16 when she meets Albinus. Starting from page 16 of my penguin edition (1969), the baseline for her age is given as 16 - "When she was barely sixteen she became friendly with the girl who server behind the counter of of a small stationary shop". Some time passes before she becomes an artists' model - "Next winter the shopgirl's sister introduced her to Frau Levandovsky ... first Margot posed in the classroom of a girls' art school, then later on, in a real studio" (page 19). She is introduced to Rex, who leaves her - and then makes money out of various elderly partners. One "pays for her room till November and had also given her enough money to buy a fur coat" (page 25) - and this lasts until spring: "She sold the fur coat and the money kept her until the spring". It's only after this (an unspecified time later, after she has changed logings) that she begins work in the cinema and meets Albinus. It seems clear that (at least) a year - winter to winter - has passed since she was "barely sixteen". Have I missed anything? I'm going to be bold and change it to 17. More broadly, the comparisons with Lolita can be exaggerated - while there are some sequences which are tonally similar (like Albinus watching Margot practice acting), it's really it's own story. 109.147.77.52 (talk) 19:21, 15 May 2015 (UTC)

Dubious Assertions
Describing Rex as Margot's molester seems a bit much in that she very willingly enters into a relationship with him. Also, describing her relationship with Albinus (one of literature's biggest suckers) as "mutually parasitic" is inaccurate in that the exploitation is all on her and Rex's part--whatever her age, Margot is not victimized by Albinus as Lolita was by Humbert Humbert. Finally, the central relationship of this novel has little resemblance to that of Ada. Van, the male protagonist of the latter, does sleep with some very young prostitutes, but the great love of his life, Ada, is only two years younger than he is, and the relationship is not depicted as parasitic on either of their parts. — Preceding unsigned comment added by 65.93.71.165 (talk) 01:27, 23 June 2011 (UTC)