Reviews with content warning for Domestic abuse - Лолита

Reviews tagging 'Domestic abuse'

Лолита by Vladimir Nabokov

101 reviews

znvisser's review against another edition

3.0

challenging dark sad 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

Hmm still making up my mind about this. This is one of those books that’s been on my TBR forever, until I could finally stomach the courage to read it. Based on some analyses I read and the reactions of many teenagers and men to this story, I expected the narrative to be more… surprising? Subtle? Successfully manipulative? Obviously I went into this expecting its contents to be horrific, but I also expected the writing and literary merits to add something to it that made it worth reading as well. And now I’m not sure it did for me; Humbert is a creep that is mostly busy decorating his actions or justifying them - precisely as you’d expect from a guy like him. So I missed something and / or went in with expectations too high. Glad to have finally gotten through this tho.

Content Warnings

sopphic's review against another edition

4.0

challenging 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

Interesting book, it's a classic and all, but Humbert Humbert, what a freakkkkk

Content Warnings

evemlacey's review against another edition

4.25

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

" Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Loo-lee-ta: the tip of my tongue taking a trip for three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta."

A shiver went down my spine as I read that first sentence of the book- and I knew I was in for a bumpy ride.

I see many people misinterpreting this book.
Examples may include:

" This is a romantic love story!"
" The author is romanticizing pedophillia."
And much more

No, Nabokov, in my opinion, is not romanticising child grooming. He is exposing the darkness, the shame, the inherent immorality of the act. Humber Humbert is a very unreliable narrator. We cannot trust anything Humbert Humbert says. While he seems to potray Dolores as being happy, there are a few moments in the book when Humbert Humbert lets Dolores's true feelings slip.

A couple of times Dolores made the claim that Humbert Humbert was raping her. He was, obviously, but he did not want the reader to think that. These are moments in which he lets her true feelings slip.

He criticises people for being "pedophiles", when it is HE who is the pedophile. He projects his issues and immorality onto other people.

Another abhorrently disgusting part of the book is when he tries to rape her when she is sick. He is always thinking about sex. He has no goodness in his heart. He is pure evil.

As Oscar Wilde once said, " The books that the world calls immoral are the books that show the world it's own shame."

Lolita is disgusting. It is a warning to society. Lolita does not exist. She is Dolores Haze, a young girl who was groomed, raped, and manipulated. This book reminds us of the immoralities that may be going on under our very noses.

Content Warnings

rae_kh's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark sad 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

Content Warnings

amaranth_wytch's review against another edition

1.25

dark slow-paced

Content Warnings

lenaemilia's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

galactic_gigi's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

This book is absolutely horrifying! Don‘t get me wrong, the writing is beautiful and lyrical and so poetic. But what the narrator is describing are the absolute mad delusions of a monster targeting, manipulating and abusing a child. The unreliability and him trying to defend himself in front of the readers is bringing the reader closer to the narrator then one might want or feel comfortable with. It‘s a very good book and I recommend reading it, but there are a lot of times where I needed to take a break before nearly hurling the book against a wall. Please consult trigger warnings before reading!

Content Warnings