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_kaylinconn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Graphic: Mental illness, Death, Sexual violence, Stalking, Car accident, Pedophilia, Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Kidnapping, Rape, Sexual assault, and Murder
roseaboveyou's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Sexual content, and Pedophilia
kazli's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Death of parent, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Toxic relationship, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Incest, Pregnancy, and Sexual violence
jalyhn's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
an illusion or something he made up and what is real.
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, Drug use, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Confinement, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Car accident, Adult/minor relationship, and Child abuse
Moderate: Drug abuse, Child abuse, Suicidal thoughts, Death, Gaslighting, Sexual violence, Murder, Sexual assault, Rape, Domestic abuse, Death of parent, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Emotional abuse, Sexual content, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, and Mental illness
Minor: Kidnapping, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Domestic abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, Murder, Death of parent, Sexual content, Sexual violence, and Suicidal thoughts
dnvnuwu's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Violence, Pedophilia, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, Sexual assault, and Hate crime
kierank's review against another edition
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Misogyny, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Child abuse, Rape, Emotional abuse, Child death, and Sexual assault
hotteahippie's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Sexual content, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Kidnapping, Sexual violence, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Rape, and Gaslighting
caarlotta's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Toxic relationship, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Rape
Moderate: Death of parent
stindex's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Graphic: Emotional abuse, Stalking, Sexual harassment, Sexual content, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Incest, Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, and Misogyny
ellisy's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Maybe one of the most remarcable things about this story is the way it's told. We are warned at the beginning of what this text really is: a confession and desperate attempt of a criminal to save himself. One that "should make all of us apply ourselves with still greater vigilance and vision to the task of bringing up a better generation in a safer world". Its narrator, a pedophile that both tries to trick you into beeling his side of the story and recognizes what he's done, one you cannot fully believe since he himself said that "I have camouflaged what I could so as not to hurt people". Which he does in the most poetical kind of way, almost convincing you for some bits until you get to the most sordid parts and comments, that reminds you of what he really is.
Something really interesting about him is the juxtaposition between the romantic and the monster, between "concupiscent co-operation (or the illusion of it) to dirty old man, from romance to self-revolution, from reciprocation to the sordid solipsism of sperm on the hand. Nabokov's subject and Humbert's affliction is the discrepancy between the dizzy desire and the dingy thruth". As Humbert said "Despite the horrible hopelessness of it all, I still dwelled deep in my elected paradise—a paradise whose skies were the color of hell-flames—bit still a paradise". And as well recognized later on, "I loved you. I was a pentapod monster, but I loved you. I was despicable and brutal, and turpid, and everything, mais je t'aimais, je t'aimais! And there were times when I knew how you felt, and it was hell to know it, my little one. Lolita girl, brave Dolly Schiller". He knew that he was hurting her, but he kept on, he knew that he was monstrous, but he kept on, and this would have never ended, if Dolores wouldn't have scaped.
Maybe that's why that's one of the most heartbreaking parts of the story. The criminal knew how sordidly he had ruined Dolores's live, but he kept on, telling himself that he loved her. He used this little child until she bled, he knew she hated him, and still tried to make himself and us believe that he was the misunderstood poet, the victim somehow. But still he doesn't lay flat, he is not just "the bad guy" he's a monster, but he has dimensions, a story to tell after and before, some humanness in him that still makes us feel sorry somehow, even if after we still feel sick of what he's done.
Lolita is a terrifying story, in which not only a child was kidnapped but failed by the system that was supposed to protect her, by the people around them who had to have suspission that something was off, and even by the legacy it left, since Lolita became both a sexual figure and a "romance" story, with people commenting on the novel as "a record of Nabokov's love affair with the romantic novel". For me, it's the confession of a monstrous passion from the point of view of the aggressor, one that's written trying to cover what happened and you still see through the lies, one with multidimensional characters and story that fills you with rage, disgust and helplessness, and a narrative that tries to trick you. And for that, it's a masterpiece of the English language, a gem that's hard to look at, but you still should, a classic of American literature.
Graphic: Child death, Sexual violence, Rape, Sexual assault, Death, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Murder, Physical abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Pregnancy, Racism, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, and Violence