by Jayne L. Bowman
Special to CNN Interactive

(CNN) -- It's easy to think you can judge a man by his fiction. Isn't the creation, at least in some part, the creator?

Keeping that question in mind, was there then a part of Vladimir Nabokov that was a monster? How else could he write the infamously famous "Lolita" and bring to life its exquisitely amoral main character Humbert Humbert? Surely only a twisted mind, a depraved heart could conjure up such a fiendish narrator, capable of the kidnapping and ravaging of a young girl, but still seemingly human. He maintains such an odd realism and dark humor that Humbert must have -- must have -- been based on a real man, or at least a slice of the author's psyche.

This assumption of Nabokov's perversity swirled in the public mind when "Lolita" was first published, and resurfaced with the release of the latest film version. Nabokov's depiction of pedophilia was so heartfelt and nearly sympathetic that some found it difficult to believe that any pure-thinking man could have written it.

But upon close inspection, Nabokov turns out to be just that: a wholesome man, a family man and a kind, erudite soul who collected butterflies. He was known more for his love of chess and paintings than any passion for preteens. Clearly, the convincing details of Humbert's personality sprung not from life experience, but artistry. That Nabokov was able to birth a character so different from his own persona is testament to his talent.

Also see: Interactive map of Humbert Humbert's travels around the United States in the 50s

"Like any great artist," says Harvey Kerpneck, Emeritus Professor of English, University of St. Michael's, University of Toronto, "Nabokov tended to deplore the tendency of many people to go to literature 'for the wrong reasons,' as Virginia Woolf puts it. He once pointed out -- correctly -- that 'Literature is invention. Fiction is fiction.' If we detect a bit of petulance in that second sentence, we can understand it. People always want to learn about the author and always assume -- incorrectly -- that a work of art is somehow a topographical map of his (or her) soul."

So those searching for Nabokov in the persona were missing the mark. There are clues to Nabokov the man, buried within "Lolita" and many of his works. Though not the bloody smears of a rapist and murderer, Nabokov's fingerprints are indeed all over his fiction.

For example, there exists a connection between Humbert the Perverse and Nabokov the Collector. Humbert has two passions -- the worship and the possession of Lolita. But in pursuit of these passions, he also manages to study, capture and abuse her, eventually destroying that which makes Lolita desirable -- her innocence. Yes, Nabokov penned a bitter consequence to Humbert's possessive behavior, yet the author himself dallied in this admiration/murder game. A rabid butterfly collector, Nabokov adored these creatures that he found beautiful, rare and frail. He then killed, preserved, cataloged and literally, pinned them down.

Calculating control mixed with overwhelming emotion can be found in other aspects of Nabokov's life, as well as his work. The narrator of "Despair" is a man with a fanciful occupation (chocolate salesman) and a sentimental core. He begins chapter seven with the non sequitur, " ... let us take the following motto ... Literature is Love. Now we can continue." Yet this is the same character who, upon accidentally stumbling upon his "body double" and befriending him, casually murders him in a plot to collect life insurance.

Nabokov was as capable of calculation as he was romance. But rather than be torn between these two disparate aspects of his personality, he flitted easily from one to the other and often married them with great success. For instance, one of his publications is entitled "Poems and Problems," and it is just that -- a collection of 53 of his poems and 18 chess problems of his own invention. This combination of art and strategy is key to not only understanding Nabokov's body of work, but the workings of the man himself.

Memories and dreams also play a large part in many of Nabokov's writings. Humbert's passion for Lolita can be traced back to an intense relationship he had with a young girl, an infatuation aborted by her early death. His obsession with Lolita is in many ways a desperate attempt to reenact that memory.

The title character of the novel "Pnin" is likewise tormented by memories. An elderly Russian professor who's immigrated to America, Pnin is haunted by his love for his greedy ex-wife, who manipulates him for money. And he is resolute against his memory of the girl he loved when he was a young man, a girl who lost her life in the Holocaust. "In order to exist rationally, Pnin had taught himself ... never to remember Mira ... One had to forget, because one could not live with the thought that those eyes, that smile ... had been brought in a cattle car to a concentration camp ..."

A similar scenario exists in "Speak, Memory," Nabokov's autobiography, in which he writes of the his young Russian love, Tamara. Though he eventually enjoyed a happy and long marriage with his wife Vèra, Nabokov recalls Tamara both fondly and painfully. She is Nabokov's own Mira. He recalls his accidental meeting with her with "crushing regret." He writes that even his attempt to analyze the details of the meeting was of little comfort: "... alien marginalia can dim the purity of the pain."

"Nabokov believed that, like nature (and here he simply picked up Oscar Wilde's idea), art is 'a marvelous system of spells and wiles,'" Kerpneck said. "And like Wilde he believes that the artist merely 'follows nature's lead' in making magic of mundane material."

Or as Victorian critic Matthew Arnold said, art is not "an allegory of the state of one's own mind," Kerpneck adds.

Nabokov succeeded with "Lolita" by taking human experiences and passions and turning them to create an inhumane character. But it was his intense mastery of words and ideas that brought his monster to life. The creation was depraved, but not the creator.