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3.79 AVERAGE
3.79 AVERAGE
Everything that could be said about this book had no doubt already been said. It’s just awe inspiring that Nabokov could use such brilliant word play in a language that was not his first. Also is HH the least self-aware yet most self-aware unreliable psychopath ever created?
This book was quite strange. So I knew the premise of the book going in as I obviously read the blurb, but I also read some reviews to decide whether I was prepared for this book or not. Yes, the content was incredibly disturbing, especially when there is pages of prose about the body of a young girl. But, I didn't find it as bad as what others readers found it. In saying that, it is absolutely gross and not something I would read again and wouldn't recommend to the majority of readers. I know there has been a lot of discussion on the relatable of the book and the events within it. I think there is no argument as to whether Lolita was raped and held against her will. There is just no argument for that an 11/12 girl seducing or even wanting sexualising relations with Humbert.
I can't deny that some of the prose was beautifully written. The descriptions of the landscapes and various places was told in a way that made you feel you were really there.
Overall, whilst the matter within this book is not nice and is uncomfortable, I feel the author purposely does this to make the reader fall into the trap of the unreliable, convincing narrator.
3 ⭐️
I can't deny that some of the prose was beautifully written. The descriptions of the landscapes and various places was told in a way that made you feel you were really there.
Overall, whilst the matter within this book is not nice and is uncomfortable, I feel the author purposely does this to make the reader fall into the trap of the unreliable, convincing narrator.
3 ⭐️
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
sick book
dark
sad
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
People always told me I had to read Nabokov, so I did just to see what the fuss was about, and of course I chose his most famous book. I expected it to be good, and I expected it to be disturbing, but I’m not sure that I can quite put into words the extent to which this book affected me. Did I enjoy reading it? No, I can’t really say I did. That being said, this novel made me truly appreciate writing in a way I never really have. I’ve never read such terrible things described so beautifully or cleverly. I’ll simply never be able to forget it.
dark
reflective
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
To start (because an actual review will require much rumination): the cover of the annotated penguin edition I read depicts a butterfly. Not. a. girl.
That’s important.
That’s important.
4
Revisiting this as an adult-- I would give it a 5 if the experience of reading it wasn’t deeply uncomfortable
Revisiting this as an adult-- I would give it a 5 if the experience of reading it wasn’t deeply uncomfortable
When writing of the macabre or of something that may be considered infinitely risque or scandalous, one of the most important things that many writers need to, but very few seldom do, pay attention to is a thing called 'balance.'
It's simple enough. A story may be about anyone or anything but when you tell a tale of a man who is mystified and enamoured by twelve year old girls, things become tricky. Being autobiographical in nature, Lolita would have created a humongous mountain for any writer to cross. It would be profoundly difficult to create a character, simply speaking, that has such heinous desires and yet be relateable and at times even worthy of a reader's sympathy. It sounds unbelievably hard and it is, but not for Mr. Nabokov.
Nabokov creates a character with so many layers that calling it a masterpiece doesn't begin to do it justice. H.H., his main character, is delightfully complex and unbelievably monstrous. His desires are perverse but his motives chaste. His manner is proper, well distinguished but his behaviour is nothing but blood curling. Seeing everything from his perspective takes us on a journey through his partly deranged mind and the journey is simply incredulous. His descriptions of little girls and their effects of him will disgust anyone but the cogs of such a mind at work laid bare will do nothing but utterly fascinate those who read it. Nabokov has achieved something special here, his enormously verbose, yet lacking in description, style evoking images that are swathed in double entendre, puns, euphemisms and just sheer, magical prose.
It works to perfection, his way with words, since it tells us a story that has many characters but is about only one. His lack of description, while off putting at first, reveals an intentional choice on part of the author, to display a man so entrenched in his vile desires that anything else becomes secondary or irrelevant. It's the work of a master and it took me embarrassingly long to figure out. But once I did, I realised that I was reading something that could only be described as greatness.
I could go into depth about the various devices that Nabokov uses here to enthrall, disgust and fascinate us. But a novel like this has been analysed to death. All I have to say is that works of art like this are very rare and need to be treasured. I can't speak to the actual content of the book or rather, how that content may make many people feel. We live in an age of awareness and the horrific effects of child abuse are known to all of us now, so feigning a lack of knowledge as a reason to enjoy this book is not a liberty anyone can afford. However, Nabokov's work should not be mistaken as something that sensationalises abuse or the like. It should be seen as what it is, an author's imagination of what such a man's mind might hold, among all its hidden doors and cabinets. In that respect, Lolita is amazing and needs to be enjoyed over and over again.
It's simple enough. A story may be about anyone or anything but when you tell a tale of a man who is mystified and enamoured by twelve year old girls, things become tricky. Being autobiographical in nature, Lolita would have created a humongous mountain for any writer to cross. It would be profoundly difficult to create a character, simply speaking, that has such heinous desires and yet be relateable and at times even worthy of a reader's sympathy. It sounds unbelievably hard and it is, but not for Mr. Nabokov.
Nabokov creates a character with so many layers that calling it a masterpiece doesn't begin to do it justice. H.H., his main character, is delightfully complex and unbelievably monstrous. His desires are perverse but his motives chaste. His manner is proper, well distinguished but his behaviour is nothing but blood curling. Seeing everything from his perspective takes us on a journey through his partly deranged mind and the journey is simply incredulous. His descriptions of little girls and their effects of him will disgust anyone but the cogs of such a mind at work laid bare will do nothing but utterly fascinate those who read it. Nabokov has achieved something special here, his enormously verbose, yet lacking in description, style evoking images that are swathed in double entendre, puns, euphemisms and just sheer, magical prose.
It works to perfection, his way with words, since it tells us a story that has many characters but is about only one. His lack of description, while off putting at first, reveals an intentional choice on part of the author, to display a man so entrenched in his vile desires that anything else becomes secondary or irrelevant. It's the work of a master and it took me embarrassingly long to figure out. But once I did, I realised that I was reading something that could only be described as greatness.
I could go into depth about the various devices that Nabokov uses here to enthrall, disgust and fascinate us. But a novel like this has been analysed to death. All I have to say is that works of art like this are very rare and need to be treasured. I can't speak to the actual content of the book or rather, how that content may make many people feel. We live in an age of awareness and the horrific effects of child abuse are known to all of us now, so feigning a lack of knowledge as a reason to enjoy this book is not a liberty anyone can afford. However, Nabokov's work should not be mistaken as something that sensationalises abuse or the like. It should be seen as what it is, an author's imagination of what such a man's mind might hold, among all its hidden doors and cabinets. In that respect, Lolita is amazing and needs to be enjoyed over and over again.
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
“That little girl with her seaside limbs and ardent tongue haunted me ever since - until the last, twenty four years later, I broke her spell by incarnating her in another”
It’s hard to know where to begin with ‘Lolita’, a notoriously tabooed book but also in this regards so deeply misunderstood by its readership, or more likely supposed readership who hear about it but fail to approach it and realise what it truly is. Yes, ‘Lolita’ is about a pedophile and his relationship with a twelve year old girl, and in so many places and so many scenes this book is utterly sickening and so discomforting, yet at the same time it is one of the most poetic and well written books I have read. What right does a book about pedophilia have to this claim. In Humbert Humbert’s words “You can always count on a murderer for a fancy prose style.”
What makes this book so realistic is how painfully aware Humbert is in his own writings that what he is doing is deeply wrong, and yet his futile attempts to justify his actions as human nature, or blaming Lolita as a temptress always seem to prevail. I can thankfully say at no point did I find myself rooting for him as a protagonist though, and most of his remarks I recognised as being from an integrally unreliable narrative perspective.
The afterword and Nabokov’s comments on his book are integral for understanding its true purpose in writing. I was amused by his comments on the overanalysing of literary works, especially as he wrote a work so aware of its Freudian readings that it mentions psychoanalysis on numerous occasions. Finishing ‘Lolita’ has had a profound effect on me that I can’t quite put into words, on the one hand I am disgusted and on the other I am in awe. I will leave on a note from both the foreword and afterword, spelling out the intentions of this work: “Lolita should make all of us - parents, social workers, educators - apply ourselves with still greater vigilance and vision to the task of bringing up a better generation in a safer world”
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia