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book_busy's review against another edition
2.0
Look, despicable sexual deviant aside, this book was really a slog to get through. The plot was dull and took ages to get to the point and the ending came in a clumsy, anticlimactic rush. The only saving grace of this book is Nabokov's very pretty and peculiar prose.
ritaralha's review against another edition
5.0
Lolita é uma obra que ao longo das décadas tem sido simultaneamente insultada e elogiada e, por isso, destinada a provocar intensos debates morais. Moralismos à parte, tem entrada directa para a prateleira dos favoritos. Que livro!
Nabokov venerava as palavras e acreditava que com uma linguagem apropriada era possível elevar qualquer material ao nível da arte. É o que ele faz em Lolita.
Narrada pelo nada confiável Humbert, Lolita é a história de um predador sexual à caça de uma criança/menina/rapariga de 12 anos.
Para descobrimos a verdadeira história de pedofilia, violação e assassinato temos que mergulhar nas palavras de Humbert, que com os seus truques linguísticos nos manipula, distrai, seduz, confunde, mas acima de tudo encanta.
Humbert é um mentiroso, todos os pedófilos são mentirosos! - este mantra é a âncora que nos permite não sermos completamente envolvidos.
A linguagem utilizada triunfa sobre o chocante conteúdo e dá-lhe uma beleza que talvez a obra não merecesse.
Definitivamente um livro para mais tarde reler.
Nabokov venerava as palavras e acreditava que com uma linguagem apropriada era possível elevar qualquer material ao nível da arte. É o que ele faz em Lolita.
Narrada pelo nada confiável Humbert, Lolita é a história de um predador sexual à caça de uma criança/menina/rapariga de 12 anos.
Para descobrimos a verdadeira história de pedofilia, violação e assassinato temos que mergulhar nas palavras de Humbert, que com os seus truques linguísticos nos manipula, distrai, seduz, confunde, mas acima de tudo encanta.
Humbert é um mentiroso, todos os pedófilos são mentirosos! - este mantra é a âncora que nos permite não sermos completamente envolvidos.
A linguagem utilizada triunfa sobre o chocante conteúdo e dá-lhe uma beleza que talvez a obra não merecesse.
Definitivamente um livro para mais tarde reler.
operaghost7's review against another edition
This book was too hard of a read in the sense of the very dark and evil subject it covered. I didn’t enjoy reading it, only made me hate some aspects of humanity more.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Kidnapping, Child abuse, Sexual violence, and Pedophilia
drakken'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
2.0
Blargh, this was a slog.
I went into this with a morbid sense of curiosity - I’d of course heard many references to Lolita over the years and had some awareness of its cultural impact, but had never actually come close to picking up the book until it got selected for a book club I’m in.
For the first third or so, I actually found myself taking well to Nabokov's writing style and deriving some measure of enjoyment from the language employed, despite the discomfiting subject matter.
That enjoyment soon faded however, and by about the halfway mark it became a struggle to progress. Living in the mind of someone as abhorrent and delusional and perpetually self-important as Humbert and reading about his thoughts toward and treatment of Dolores was absolutely exhausting. At a certain point, I just do not need to hear yet again how the sweat on a pubescent girl's armpit glistened, or how he wanted to ravish her internal organs, or how she smelled when he leaned close to her. I also couldn't care less about his documenting of the 100th place he visited on his travels across the country and all the minutiae that occurred along the way (all the while reminding me how intelligent and witty he is with his references and unnecessary insertions of French).
Admittedly once Dolores went off on her own, things became a little more tolerable, but by that point I was already checked out and wanting to speed through to the end.
If this book had been about half as long, I may have been able to stomach it better and come away with a more positive impression. One could make an argument that a literary exploration of a human being like this is worthwhile - for a time. As constructed though, it left a really sour taste in my mouth, and I'm glad to be done with it and move on.
(still giving it 2 stars for Nabokov's writing)
I went into this with a morbid sense of curiosity - I’d of course heard many references to Lolita over the years and had some awareness of its cultural impact, but had never actually come close to picking up the book until it got selected for a book club I’m in.
For the first third or so, I actually found myself taking well to Nabokov's writing style and deriving some measure of enjoyment from the language employed, despite the discomfiting subject matter.
That enjoyment soon faded however, and by about the halfway mark it became a struggle to progress. Living in the mind of someone as abhorrent and delusional and perpetually self-important as Humbert and reading about his thoughts toward and treatment of Dolores was absolutely exhausting. At a certain point, I just do not need to hear yet again how the sweat on a pubescent girl's armpit glistened, or how he wanted to ravish her internal organs, or how she smelled when he leaned close to her. I also couldn't care less about his documenting of the 100th place he visited on his travels across the country and all the minutiae that occurred along the way (all the while reminding me how intelligent and witty he is with his references and unnecessary insertions of French).
Admittedly once Dolores went off on her own, things became a little more tolerable, but by that point I was already checked out and wanting to speed through to the end.
If this book had been about half as long, I may have been able to stomach it better and come away with a more positive impression. One could make an argument that a literary exploration of a human being like this is worthwhile - for a time. As constructed though, it left a really sour taste in my mouth, and I'm glad to be done with it and move on.
(still giving it 2 stars for Nabokov's writing)
cmarieha's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
medium-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
4.0
fabbioscarito's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
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
5.0
Lolita was always a difficult book to pick up and start reading, but each time I did, it was very difficult to put back down. Given the subject matter, I think that says a lot
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship
charlote_1347's review against another edition
4.0
A practically perfect read. The premise was less disturbing than I was expecting, largely because of Lolita's age, but also because of the author's masterful prose and his way of handling the topic. I found the psychological mindset explored in this novel absolutely fascinating, and I thought it was handled brilliantly. My only complaint, a completely personal preference might I add, is that some of the sentences and paragraphs were too intricate, and this disrupted the flow of the text in occasional places. Disregarding this minor issue however, this is a book I would recommend to anyone, despite its controversial subject matter.
laurenshikari's review against another edition
2.0
It was difficult to finish, very difficult, and boring. The moral questions are interesting, more a book to be studied and picked apart and appreciated, as opposed to a leisurely read.
jnseely's review against another edition
dark
tense
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
4.75