Reviews

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

vigilo's review against another edition

dark funny sad 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

3.5

lo0o0o0tte's review against another edition

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

4.75

b_shiara's review against another edition

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

2.5

knihomila's review against another edition

3.0

nevedela som sa úplne dostať do atmosféry tejto knihy. zdĺhavé a pre mňa nie veľmi podstatné opisy ma odrádzali od pozorného čítania. nekonečné cestovanie po hoteloch hore dole. príbeh mi neprišiel vôbec dynamický, nevidela som žiadne pozitíva, žiadne morálne pozdvihnutie. niektoré scény boli pekne načrtnuté, no stále som z nich nemala úplne dobrý pocit.
dielo mi dovolilo zamyslieť sa nad podstatou detskej čistoty a aké jednoduché je ju zničiť.

flori_pop's review against another edition

challenging dark slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No

3.0

billiamdyemyhair's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

4.0

insearchofsheila's review against another edition

4.0

Nabokov is a genius.

batrick_pateman's review against another edition

challenging dark reflective sad 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

5.0

Where to start?
This is one of the most beautifully written books I've ever read, maybe even the most beautifully written. Nabokov was a master at playing with language, it's amazing that he only started writing in English in the middle of his life and career. I'm in awe of the writing, and the plot makes me feel filthy. Like a stain I can't remove.
In a lesser writer's hands, Humbert Humbert would be a stock character and this book would be worse than worthless - but Nabokov turns it into a dissection of not just a predator's psyche, but the reader's idea of a predator's psyche. At every turn, H. H. is trying to win the reader's sympathy - he never lies, but he obscures, justifies, begs, contrasts himself with

Quilty

, and does everything else he can to hide the fact that he is a monster. Thanks to Nabokov's writing, it almost works - recognizing H. H. as a monster and a predator forces you to reject the popular image of The Pedophile and re-think your idea of what predators are like. Brilliant, disturbing, important, gorgeously written, and a book I'll definitely return to someday.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual violence, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, and Pedophilia

Moderate: Gun violence and Murder

pansy_ass's review against another edition

5.0

This was entrancing. Nabokov’s style of writing is that of a heady dream, abstract and celestial, poetic to the point of near esotericism at times. I am obsessed with the aesthetic of these words. Never have a read a novel more atmospheric than this. The characters and settings seem to play around you in nearly intangible mists and coloured lights. Never is anything described in too solid a level of detail. This book is watercolour paint, not oil or graphite or ink. Let it consume you in its amorphous uncertainties and subjectivities.

anaprieto02's review against another edition

challenging 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

5.0