Reviews with content warning for Murder - Lolita

Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

159 reviews

euannn900's review against another edition

challenging medium-paced

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

0.5

There is no doubt this novel is elegantly and well written but it is entirely impossible to enjoy reading it. Humber Humberts is an awful, piece of shit specimen of a person. Outside of the obvious fact that he is a pedophile

who rapes a 12 year old

, he spends the whole book defending his actions and obsessions, he's a male manipulator, controlling Lolita through blackmailing and physical abuse and is a mysoginist, not only to Lolita but to numerous other women throughout the book. All the while he claims that his disturbing, creepy and disgusting obsession with Lolita is love. Vladimir Nabokov should never have written this book.

Content Warnings

bookshelfbybub's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark tense slow-paced

Loveable characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

The text is profoundly disturbing, but written in a prosaically beautiful way that one almost forgets it is so. Almost.

The novel is strongest in part one, but wanes a bit in part two. The narrative tension is less, and my interest suffered for it.

Content Warnings

fabianu's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark emotional tense slow-paced

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

Dear reader, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, please don’t look down upon H.H’s actions against Dolores. For a lepidopterist will take a beautiful creature and pin it to a wall to observe its beauty but taking away its life creating nothing more than an object. H.H. sees no difference from his Dolly to a scientists butterfly. (I am not defending H.H. In any way shape or form just making light in the community of such a depraved book). I absolutely loved how lyrical this book is narrated however, I will forever praise Nabokov’s writing. And I only wish the general public understood this book when released back in the 50’s. It’s a serious book that deals with serious matters and yet no matter how much Nabokov plead to get his readers to understand his book. He was forever misunderstood as they thought he was H.H. My only wish is that this book did not-and still is- perverted and normalized with a minor or adults acting like a child. However, the way the public took this book does not under any circumstance ruin my “enjoyment” of this masterpiece. I understand what Nabokov was writing about and I will never defend H.H.’s actions. Only condemn. (This was fun to write, read the book if you’re curious and if you’ve already read it maybe read it again?

Content Warnings

gerdalnrmj's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

3.5

Finally finished reading it. Took me ages as it’s the pace is really slow. It was just difficult to read because of, well the main theme. Although Nabokov’s use of English is mesmerisingly beautiful.

H.H is disgusting but … quite funny at times.

Content Warnings

jjisntstraight's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? N/A
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Content Warnings

yjd's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

Hmmmm. I was rather surprised to see so many bad reviews calling the book disturbing and describing Humbert as a creep. That is the point?? This book was a challenging foray into the insidious manipulation an abuser can wield. Not just over their victim but themselves too. It was really interesting to see the self-manipulation Humbert engaged in in order to delude himself and justify his abuse. It was equally fascinating to see his desire to present himself as a "tempted," "weak" man to the reader. An absolute masterclass in an unreliable narrator - you could never take anything at face value in the book. The prose was beautiful and created a fascinating juxtaposition against the content.

I feel bad saying the book dragged in parts, but it definitely felt like that at times. For me, the fascinating narrative choice also had its drawbacks. Seeing things from Humbert's perspective was incredibly challenging and made this book what it is. Yet, it left me with a feeling of curiosity regarding Lolita. I really just wanted one glimpse into her psyche that was not coloured by Humbert's garbage perspective. But I suppose that's for a different book.

Content Warnings

archipelagophoto's review

Go to review page

challenging dark sad fast-paced

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

3.75

Very upsetting read, buckle up. The writing style is beautiful, while the content is despicable. A tragedy, with no winners.

Content Warnings

isbahusman's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Content Warnings

aisclaradm's review against another edition

Go to review page

dark slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Really incredible. I was in a bit of a reading slump and it took me longer than it should have to get through the book, but I never didn’t enjoy it. Despite how vile the narrator and his actions are, there’s something strangely touching about how pathetic and hateful he is. Right from the very beginning until the very last page, this book was just beautiful, though one feels uncomfortable and disgusting throughout most of it.

Sometimes a tad slow, but that’s more so an indictment of my attention span and less so of one on the book itself.

Content Warnings

baker16's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional relaxing sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.25

Content Warnings

More...