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471 reviews for:
The Real Lolita: The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel That Scandalized the World
Sarah Weinman
3.44 AVERAGE
471 reviews for:
The Real Lolita: The Kidnapping of Sally Horner and the Novel That Scandalized the World
Sarah Weinman
3.44 AVERAGE
This book is primarily about the true story of a middle aged man who kidnaps a child for almost 2 years and how that story became part of a book that’s seen as one of the best American novels. Ugh how I hate Lolita and how it’s been misinterpreted and reshaped to turn a horrifying rape story into seductive teen / old man love story.
Turns out that while Lolita is not based on the true story of Sally Horner, Sally’s horrific ordeal was hugely influential and the parallels are too frequent and on the nose to be denied. The Nabokovs did deny it since it takes away from the ‘art’ to admit you copied some plot points from real life but I am not convinced.
Sally’s life was short and there is a fair amount of speculation in this book but there are a few things that notched this up for me for the rating. There are a lot of interesting true crime nuggets interspersed through the book and the dive into the Nabokovs work relationship was fascinating (and infuriating). Another example of authors’ wives doing crucial work for their husbands and getting no payment or acknowledgement. I’m ranting at this point but I enjoyed the book and it’s worth reading about Sally Horner and her legacy.
Turns out that while Lolita is not based on the true story of Sally Horner, Sally’s horrific ordeal was hugely influential and the parallels are too frequent and on the nose to be denied. The Nabokovs did deny it since it takes away from the ‘art’ to admit you copied some plot points from real life but I am not convinced.
Sally’s life was short and there is a fair amount of speculation in this book but there are a few things that notched this up for me for the rating. There are a lot of interesting true crime nuggets interspersed through the book and the dive into the Nabokovs work relationship was fascinating (and infuriating). Another example of authors’ wives doing crucial work for their husbands and getting no payment or acknowledgement. I’m ranting at this point but I enjoyed the book and it’s worth reading about Sally Horner and her legacy.
When I started this book, I thought about following it with a re-read of “Lolita”. Now I’m not sure I’ll ever read it again...
Well-researched and well-crafted, this tale brings Sally Horner back to life a bit, which she more than deserved, and takes Nabokov down a few pegs, seemingly also well-deserved.
This was really interesting to read. I've heard of Lolita, but never fully read it, only excerpts and reviews. There's always been something about it that made me not want to venture down that path. Finding out that the novel has similarities with a real girl, Sally Horner, is crazy. At first, I didnt like the back and forth between what happened to Sally and Vladimir's life and writing process, but the two stories really became one in the end. I'm not sure still about reading Lolita, but I really enjoyed this sort of behind the scenes look at such a controversial novel.
3.5
I enjoyed reading this, but it doesn’t have a whole lot to say. Lots of unnecessary information to make the book longer (random other crimes happening in the same area around the same time, etc.) and 20% of it is still an excerpt from another book. It would’ve been better as an essay.
I enjoyed reading this, but it doesn’t have a whole lot to say. Lots of unnecessary information to make the book longer (random other crimes happening in the same area around the same time, etc.) and 20% of it is still an excerpt from another book. It would’ve been better as an essay.
Probably more of a 3.5
I've tried a few time to read Lolita but could never really get into it. I wasn't familiar with what happened to Sally Horner and after reading Sarah Weinman's book, my heart breaks for her. It's a horrific story that has happened so many times to so many little girls. I'm not sure I'll ever attempt to read Lolita again. While I understand Nabakov doesn't blame the victim in his book, I can't help but still feel like it partially does, or at least most of society has. The term 'Lolita' now has come to mean a provocative seductive young girl, a underage temptress. It puts the blame on the young girl being sexualized and preyed upon, not the men who sexualize and abuse them. With the knowledge that Nabakov may used Sally Horner as inspiration, at least partially, for Lolita is upsetting.
This quote kinda sums my feelings: "Sally Horner is a triple victim: snatched from her ordinary life by Frank La Salle, only for her life to be cut short by car accident, and then strip-mined to produce the bones of 'Lolita' the only acknowledgment a parenthetical hidden in plain sight, hardly noticed by many millions of readers."
I've tried a few time to read Lolita but could never really get into it. I wasn't familiar with what happened to Sally Horner and after reading Sarah Weinman's book, my heart breaks for her. It's a horrific story that has happened so many times to so many little girls. I'm not sure I'll ever attempt to read Lolita again. While I understand Nabakov doesn't blame the victim in his book, I can't help but still feel like it partially does, or at least most of society has. The term 'Lolita' now has come to mean a provocative seductive young girl, a underage temptress. It puts the blame on the young girl being sexualized and preyed upon, not the men who sexualize and abuse them. With the knowledge that Nabakov may used Sally Horner as inspiration, at least partially, for Lolita is upsetting.
This quote kinda sums my feelings: "Sally Horner is a triple victim: snatched from her ordinary life by Frank La Salle, only for her life to be cut short by car accident, and then strip-mined to produce the bones of 'Lolita' the only acknowledgment a parenthetical hidden in plain sight, hardly noticed by many millions of readers."
I'm thankful to know about Sally Horner now and to have read this book, but I agree with some other reviewers who felt there really wasn't enough here for a book. There's a lot of padding with tangents about other crimes in Camden and other cases the prosecutor in this case was involved in that were definitely not needed. I didn't necessarily mind the speculations since they were clearly labeled as such, but the actual content did feel light. Regardless, I'm glad Sally's story was told. I'm glad someone is pushing back against the often disturbing reading of Lolita where people view Dolores as Humbert sees her - as Lolita, not a child. I've seen so many people speak admiringly of Humbert and as Lolita as sexy or a temptress, which is clearly misreading the novel. She. Was. 11. I also enjoyed the sections on Nabokov and how we likely did use the real case as inspiration even though he was loathe to admit it. I've always felt like he was probably a bit of an ass and this certainly fed that belief.
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Fast-paced, well researched and weaves together the stories of Sally Horner, Nabokov and other characters well. I did not enjoy the occasions in which the author interjected herself into the story, interrupting the flowing narrative. Nonetheless, still worth the read.
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced