Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
funny
lighthearted
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
the great american road trip novel
challenging
dark
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
This was a never-ending, near inscrutable stream of ramblings from a paedophile on how disturbingly sexy he finds little girls. The book goes on entire tangents dedicated to the beauty of unblemished skin, wobbly knees, knobbly joints, and gangly limbs; it’s a (supposedly beautiful) love letter to the body of children and tries (but luckily fails, in my case) to convince me of their seductive powers. Then, of course, the book just straight-up goes into a story of kidnapping, abuse and rape, and well…
In what world I was meant to enjoy this, I don’t know. Even besides the obvious fact that it’s a disgusting read, it was also so exhausting to get through due to the painfully pretentious and slowly paced writing style.
And really, I know that all this was meant to symbolize the main character’s personality, manipulations and mind, and that it doesn’t actually point to any type of depravity concerning the author. After all, it’s quite clear that he never romanticizes Humbert (even though many of his readers do), and I understand that he is trying to criticize the very thing he is writing. Yes, I’m aware of all that…
Still, I don’t actually care much about that when it comes to passing judgement on the book as a whole, since the end result stays the same: It’s still a sickening story told in the most dreadful (and often mind-numbingly boring) way. Which means it’s just not an enjoyable (or even palatable) book to read. Easy as that. I mean, why would I want to undergo the uncomfortable task of viewing the world through the eyes of a predator? What on earth should be enticing about that? So, yes, I understand the author’s intent in writing this, and that’s interesting in theory, but in practice I don’t see the appeal of reading about the allure of a child’s body for hundreds of pages on end.
Genuinely, I think this book can only be fun to read if you either feel like Humbert is relatable to you (which is a big, fat, giant ew), if you want to understand men like Humbert (which is a lesser ew, but still very much ew), or if you somehow want to feel interesting or smart for liking risqué subjects and pretentious blabber (which is certainly not my jam, but at least it’s not an ew, so please let this be your reason).
Honestly, though, maybe I’m simply too normal to understand the appeal of this book or have it work on me, because no, it did not make me sympathize with the paedophile, and no, it did not make me think Dolores was a seductress (or supposed nymphet) or anything but an innocent victim, and no, it did not make me understand why little girls could be justifiably attractive to dirty old men, and no, it did not make me feel like I was witnessing a forbidden, tragic love story of any kind (not even a twisted one, since there simply was no love involved; only sick lust), and no, Humbert’s gaslighting simply did not work on me at any given point.
In truth, it all did absolutely nothing for me. As, in my opinion, should be the case for everyone. But sure, I accept art is subjective and all that, so I’ll try not to judge (or be too creeped out by) all the love this novel has received, but I genuinely find it hard not to in this case…
Why anyone can find even a hint of sympathy or understanding for this abusive paedophile is beyond me. This book certainly gives you no valid reason to either. Which makes me think some readers have more sympathy and understanding for paedophiles in their hearts (and from the out-set) than I personally feel even remotely comfortable with… and that’s honestly quite sad.
All in all, I obviously think a story like this should make you feel nothing but disgust and horror (and, in my case, unfortunately, a lot of unexpected boredom as well), which, for some people can certainly be interesting to read, and I find that to be completely valid. Unfortunately, not even those feelings of disgust were particularly prominent for me since the writing was so dry, it nearly put me to sleep. Rather than cry in horror, I snored in boredom.
Even more so, the way a lot of fans have been talking about this book shows me that disgust is certainly not the predominant (or only) emotion they all feel towards this story. They somehow feel understanding, sympathy, intrigue, love, justification, or even blame towards the victim, which just baffles my mind. I don’t understand how they get to that point, as I genuinely don’t think even the book itself or author himself tried to make them feel that way! Rather, it’s quite obvious that the author intended the very opposite.
And so, even though the book failed to make me feel any good things about it (or really, failed to make me feel much of anything at all), I do almost feel sad for the author to see his work be so often misunderstood and misused to justify paedophilia. Imagine writing a whole book about the delusions of paedophiles, only for your readers to go along in those very same delusions and have them fail to seperate reality from fantasy. That has got to suck. But then again, maybe it also shows why he never should have written it in the first place. Due to the way the story is told, it simply can’t really be enjoyed unless you do sympathize with the paedophile, which just seems like a contradictio in terminis to me.
P.S. If you want to read a meaningful, heartbreaking, and truthful version of this kind of story, please read My Dark Vanessa instead.
In what world I was meant to enjoy this, I don’t know. Even besides the obvious fact that it’s a disgusting read, it was also so exhausting to get through due to the painfully pretentious and slowly paced writing style.
And really, I know that all this was meant to symbolize the main character’s personality, manipulations and mind, and that it doesn’t actually point to any type of depravity concerning the author. After all, it’s quite clear that he never romanticizes Humbert (even though many of his readers do), and I understand that he is trying to criticize the very thing he is writing. Yes, I’m aware of all that…
Still, I don’t actually care much about that when it comes to passing judgement on the book as a whole, since the end result stays the same: It’s still a sickening story told in the most dreadful (and often mind-numbingly boring) way. Which means it’s just not an enjoyable (or even palatable) book to read. Easy as that. I mean, why would I want to undergo the uncomfortable task of viewing the world through the eyes of a predator? What on earth should be enticing about that? So, yes, I understand the author’s intent in writing this, and that’s interesting in theory, but in practice I don’t see the appeal of reading about the allure of a child’s body for hundreds of pages on end.
Genuinely, I think this book can only be fun to read if you either feel like Humbert is relatable to you (which is a big, fat, giant ew), if you want to understand men like Humbert (which is a lesser ew, but still very much ew), or if you somehow want to feel interesting or smart for liking risqué subjects and pretentious blabber (which is certainly not my jam, but at least it’s not an ew, so please let this be your reason).
Honestly, though, maybe I’m simply too normal to understand the appeal of this book or have it work on me, because no, it did not make me sympathize with the paedophile, and no, it did not make me think Dolores was a seductress (or supposed nymphet) or anything but an innocent victim, and no, it did not make me understand why little girls could be justifiably attractive to dirty old men, and no, it did not make me feel like I was witnessing a forbidden, tragic love story of any kind (not even a twisted one, since there simply was no love involved; only sick lust), and no, Humbert’s gaslighting simply did not work on me at any given point.
In truth, it all did absolutely nothing for me. As, in my opinion, should be the case for everyone. But sure, I accept art is subjective and all that, so I’ll try not to judge (or be too creeped out by) all the love this novel has received, but I genuinely find it hard not to in this case…
Why anyone can find even a hint of sympathy or understanding for this abusive paedophile is beyond me. This book certainly gives you no valid reason to either. Which makes me think some readers have more sympathy and understanding for paedophiles in their hearts (and from the out-set) than I personally feel even remotely comfortable with… and that’s honestly quite sad.
All in all, I obviously think a story like this should make you feel nothing but disgust and horror (and, in my case, unfortunately, a lot of unexpected boredom as well), which, for some people can certainly be interesting to read, and I find that to be completely valid. Unfortunately, not even those feelings of disgust were particularly prominent for me since the writing was so dry, it nearly put me to sleep. Rather than cry in horror, I snored in boredom.
Even more so, the way a lot of fans have been talking about this book shows me that disgust is certainly not the predominant (or only) emotion they all feel towards this story. They somehow feel understanding, sympathy, intrigue, love, justification, or even blame towards the victim, which just baffles my mind. I don’t understand how they get to that point, as I genuinely don’t think even the book itself or author himself tried to make them feel that way! Rather, it’s quite obvious that the author intended the very opposite.
And so, even though the book failed to make me feel any good things about it (or really, failed to make me feel much of anything at all), I do almost feel sad for the author to see his work be so often misunderstood and misused to justify paedophilia. Imagine writing a whole book about the delusions of paedophiles, only for your readers to go along in those very same delusions and have them fail to seperate reality from fantasy. That has got to suck. But then again, maybe it also shows why he never should have written it in the first place. Due to the way the story is told, it simply can’t really be enjoyed unless you do sympathize with the paedophile, which just seems like a contradictio in terminis to me.
P.S. If you want to read a meaningful, heartbreaking, and truthful version of this kind of story, please read My Dark Vanessa instead.
It baffles me to think that anyone could read Lolita and not understand that this is a story about a complete monster, albeit a compelling (and at times even sympathetic) one. But the perverse cultural response towards the book is evident in all the horribly provocative covers that exist (including the default one used on this very site!). The prose is beautiful, yes; Humbert is interesting and erudite and charming. But several times throughout the book, he flat-out says that when Dolores gets too old, he's going to impregnate her and have sex with her daughter. Any ounce of positivity I felt towards him evaporated every time he said the word "nymphet" - and he says that word a lot. His only redeeming quality is his "European urge to use [his] feet when a drive can be dispensed with" - the dream of walkable American cities still feels painfully out of reach.
challenging
dark
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
i am so done with this book. i never wanna pick it up again.
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
Horrible story paired with marvelous writing. I'm no psychologist but I think both Humbert and Dolly were portrayed excellently, and everything surrounding Dolly's trauma and Humbert's psychology felt very real. The book is disgusting and stomach-turning without being openly explicit or tantalizing (unless you're like Humbert, I guess). Overall a fantastic read, I just found many segments of the book quite slow and uninteresting.
Also why tf is Romance one of the top tags on Goodreads??
Also why tf is Romance one of the top tags on Goodreads??
capolavoro della letteratura. Mi dispiace aver interrotto la lettura ad un certo punto, in quanto ha tolto continuità alla lettura e mi è un po' sembrato di perdere qualche dettaglio. Personalmente ho trovato l'inizio della seconda parte un po' lento, mentre le ultime 100 pagine sono stupende. Solo con la fine del libro ho compreso e apprezzato Dolly come la vera protagonista dell'opera. Lo rileggerò sicuramente.
I have conflicting thoughts about this novel. I loved the writing. It was absolutely beautiful. Honestly, some of the best prose I've ever read. The part I didn't love so much was the plot itself. I enjoyed the first third or so of the book, where our narrator is obsessed with Lolita and yearns for her. But after he has acquired his prize, I got really bored. There were so many passages describing locations around the US and the bratty attitude of Lolita that I personally wished he would leave her at a motel and go find another nymphet to dote on. And then the ending seemed totally bonkers. But even with the iffy plot, I still ate the writing up.
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