Reviews tagging 'Racism'

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

42 reviews

elizlizabeth's review against another edition

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

2.0

Personally I didn't like the way the prose was written and found myself skimming a lot of paragraphs. The unreliable narrator quality was weak in my opinion, as I hated HH with all my might from the get go. That man is so boring and full of himself, idk how I'm suppossed to sympathize.
Some people have pointed out how they love the book because it shows Dolores' resilience but I don't enjoy seeing her resilience and life unfold through her abuser's eyes 

even though I'm glad she got a somewhat happy ending,

.
Anyway. I didn't get the hype over this before and I sure don't after reading it. Good riddance!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Death of parent, Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Child abuse, Gaslighting, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Classism, Gun violence, Kidnapping, and Racism

quinn24's review

dark emotional 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

3.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Stalking, Death of parent, Emotional abuse, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Death, Rape, Suicide, Physical abuse, Kidnapping, Body shaming, Homophobia, Misogyny, and Transphobia

Minor: Racism, Drug use, Alcohol, and Antisemitism

e_hng's review against another edition

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, and Sexual assault

Moderate: Pregnancy, Racial slurs, and Racism

Minor: Alcohol

directorpurry's review against another edition

dark reflective sad 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

CW: There are so many in this bad boy... Pedophilia and victim blaming, mostly, but also SO MUCH statutory rape, Spoilerdeath of a parent, kidnapping, description of a corpse, stalking.
Updated 2020 rating: 3.5 stars

This is one of a short list of books where I can understand why some school districts and governments choose to ban it. While I find the writing to be absolutely amazing, at times almost breathtaking, the contents contained are questionable at best, atrocious at worst.
At times, Lolita is a book that can feel necessary to defend the reasons why you like it. I'll do my best to explain here:

Not to knock down the high-brow element of my review, but there's a Tumblr joke that has made the rounds about how the opposite of a "Manic Pixie Dream Girl" (usually a film trope character) is a "Depressed Goblin Nightmare Man" and how that is often a trope character of literature.
Not only that, it's often a popular trope character. (I'm looking at you, Erik, from The Phantom of the Opera.) Humbert Humbert is absolutely a "Depressed Goblin Nightmare Man" (DGNM from here on out).
He has combination of what it takes to make a DGNM, such as the cocky attitude. While HH spends most of the book degrading himself as "weak" or non-confrontational, he also spends the majority of the book strutting around like Lolita owes herself to him. Whenever she does something he doesn't like, he emotionally manipulates her into sleeping with him or forgiving him. HH also constantly blames his victims, these "Nymphets," who have done nothing more than behave like themselves, children who have no concept of the way he watches, stalks, and harasses many of them. Although he says he knows what he's doing wrong, HH ultimately places the blame on everyone but himself.

And Nabokov clearly knows what he's doing.
I've often noticed that many writers of "high" literature explore taboo topics far, far past the bounds of normalcy or even understanding. But it takes both an excellent writer and a committed reader to see past the surface topic to find the commentary underneath. Which isn't to say I blame anyone who hates or chooses not to even attempt this book because of the topic - I absolutely understand why people would want to chuck this book off a cliff.
But when I read it, I can see Nabokov's sarcastic attitude behind the words, the way he twists HH's own words against him as a narrator, making him at once unreliable and perfectly believable in his earnestness.
Lolita is clearly a girl suffering intense distress from her, at times, neglectful mother to her constant abuse and rape at the hands of HH. She shows many signs of abused children, from hiding food and money to her acting out in school and losing interest in hobbies.
There are many marks of Nabokov's deep involvement with these characters. I love the way he wrote this terrible book, and his characters are completely fascinating to me.

Additionally, I read this book for the first time just as I graduated high school, when I was personally quite enraptured by man DGNM in media. Outside of school work, this was one of the first "adult" "literature" books I elected to read on my own and I was completely swept away by the writing.
I'd like to think I've matured enough now as a reader to critique HH's status as a DGNM and as a writer to really absorb and understand the craft that went into this novel.
It's hard to say I "like" this book, but I would, perhaps, say I respect it. While perhaps no longer a 5-star because of my more nuanced understanding of the actual topic, rather than reading it when I was, in fact, still a teenager/child myself, the strong writing will always push it close to 4-stars for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Murder, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Kidnapping, and Rape

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Child death and Physical abuse

kayesomething's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Death of parent, Car accident, Rape, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Gun violence, Racial slurs, and Racism

Minor: Pregnancy, Antisemitism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Homophobia, Death, and Body shaming

sofiesreadingworld's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious sad tense slow-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

1.0

 Just, no thanks. I've been struggling to get through this one.
I couldn't understand about half of the entire book. Not knowing where a certain event started or who the protagonist was talking about...
I finished it for this month's read at book club Plotgenoten, but otherwise, I might have DNF-ed it.
Maybe I should have read it in Dutch. But I don't plan on reading it a second time ever. It's just hella complicated and not very likeable.
Glad I returned it to the library this morning!
Way to go with a lighter read! 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Toxic relationship, Sexual assault, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Car accident, Death of parent, Racism, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

valerietheresa's review

challenging dark reflective sad tense slow-paced

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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Racism and Pedophilia

karenaerts's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, and Rape

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Body shaming, Car accident, Drug use, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Racism, and Stalking

moonandmadness's review against another edition

dark tense 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? It's complicated

3.5

Thank God that's over. Even on reread, I acknowledge Nabokov's command of English is impressive and depressing since I could never, as is his ability to create, write, and endure disgusting characters. The novel deals with taboo in a controversial and interesting way, but becomes dull in the latter parts, devolving into madness reminiscent of Pale Fire. I feel the zeitgeist made a choice with glorifying the book, and a decision to misunderstand Dolores//Lolita. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Pedophilia, and Rape

Minor: Racism

vulpexula's review

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

4.0

A very challenging, yet important read. I wouldn’t recommend to younger readers or people who are triggered by abuse, as there is absolutely no subtlety in how the subjects are handled.

Nabokov use of rhyme and word play is what hooked me in from the beginning. I think the biggest tragedy of Lolita is our culture’s reaction to it. Instead of a vulnerable victim, the name ‘Lolita’ often brings the idea of a seductive, provocative girl to people’s heads, which is, I believe, exactly what evil people like Humbert want. If society can continue to sexualise young girls, abuse can continue to slip under the radar.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, and Trafficking

Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism

Minor: Homophobia