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jess_mango's review against another edition
5.0
A funny, chilling, and haunting novel that is amongst my favorite reads. Nabakov skillfully does the unimaginable---he creates a sympathetic pedophile in his narrator, Humbert Humbert. It is a testament to Nabakov's skill that the reader's minds get twisted around to believing that Humbert is not a bad guy and thinking that there is nothing wrong with his behavior. Disturbing and highly recommended!
littlebeereads's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
The books progression is slow which is a good feature considering the detail the main character adds to the story but the ending feels extremely rushed given how intense it is.
8797999's review against another edition
5.0
What can I sat about this that hasn’t been said before. From start to finish I found that to be a very beautifully composed book. One I had put off because of the subject matter but one that like a new flavour I have to try for myself to make up my mind.
I am glad to have finally read it and didn’t write it off because of the theme. A remarkable piece of literature. One that I thoroughly enjoyed. A masterpiece and well worth the plaudits and attention it gets. It won't be to everyone's cup of tea though.
I am glad to have finally read it and didn’t write it off because of the theme. A remarkable piece of literature. One that I thoroughly enjoyed. A masterpiece and well worth the plaudits and attention it gets. It won't be to everyone's cup of tea though.
demonrebuilt's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
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
4.0
joyce_appreciator's review against another edition
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Unpleasant at times, and not without problems for the reader and indeed the writer but incredibly rich, re-readable, full of surprises
fbroom's review against another edition
It has a unique and exceptional writing style. Some reviewer called it “Prose Perfection”. The plot is not key here, it is definitely the writing and the prose. It was though a difficult read for me as it was rich with difficult vocabulary.
Plot wise, it is written from the perspective of a unstable narrator. It tells the story of Humbert Humbert who has always been attracted to young girls or nymphets (age 9-14) and he blames it on his first true love who was killed when he was that age. He claims that he was never able to recover from the incident.
He moves to the United States and there he meets Dolores Haze, a 12 year old. He instantly becomes obsessed with her. He marries her mother just to stay close to her. Her mother is eventually killed in a car accident and Humbert decides to pursue his plan of raping the child with a sleeping pill. Unexpectedly Dolores turns out to know so much about sex already and shocks him (Let’s remember here that this book is narrated from his perspective, so did she really seduce him?). He takes advantage of her anyways. He also tells her that she has no one in the world and if she tries to leave, she will need up in the state’s welfare.
They keep traveling from a city to another over the course of 1 year, settling later where Dolores is set to go to a private school. She enrolls in drama and gets to work on a play written by Quilty. Dolores has already a crush on Quilty and his plays from the old days at her mother’s house. Humbert gets suspicious. Dolores tries to leave and fails and so he takes her on another trip. During the trip, he notices that someone is following them and he gets suspicious again. Dolores gets sick with a high fever and he takes her to the hospital and stays in a nearby hotel. When tries to check her out in the morning he discovers that she already checked out with her “uncle”.
He goes crazy and starts searching everywhere for Dolores. During that time he meets Rita, a 3 times divorced lady who accompanies him and agrees on the search plan. Two years later he receives a letter from Dolores asking for money for her husband and their unborn child. He drives to see her and tries to convince her to come back to him. He also gives her the money in exchange for her telling him the name of her kidnapper. He turns out to be Quilty as expected. Humbert drives to Quilty and murders him. He ends up in prison and writes his Lolita book to be published only when both him and Lolita are dead.
Plot wise, it is written from the perspective of a unstable narrator. It tells the story of Humbert Humbert who has always been attracted to young girls or nymphets (age 9-14) and he blames it on his first true love who was killed when he was that age. He claims that he was never able to recover from the incident.
He moves to the United States and there he meets Dolores Haze, a 12 year old. He instantly becomes obsessed with her. He marries her mother just to stay close to her. Her mother is eventually killed in a car accident and Humbert decides to pursue his plan of raping the child with a sleeping pill. Unexpectedly Dolores turns out to know so much about sex already and shocks him (Let’s remember here that this book is narrated from his perspective, so did she really seduce him?). He takes advantage of her anyways. He also tells her that she has no one in the world and if she tries to leave, she will need up in the state’s welfare.
They keep traveling from a city to another over the course of 1 year, settling later where Dolores is set to go to a private school. She enrolls in drama and gets to work on a play written by Quilty. Dolores has already a crush on Quilty and his plays from the old days at her mother’s house. Humbert gets suspicious. Dolores tries to leave and fails and so he takes her on another trip. During the trip, he notices that someone is following them and he gets suspicious again. Dolores gets sick with a high fever and he takes her to the hospital and stays in a nearby hotel. When tries to check her out in the morning he discovers that she already checked out with her “uncle”.
He goes crazy and starts searching everywhere for Dolores. During that time he meets Rita, a 3 times divorced lady who accompanies him and agrees on the search plan. Two years later he receives a letter from Dolores asking for money for her husband and their unborn child. He drives to see her and tries to convince her to come back to him. He also gives her the money in exchange for her telling him the name of her kidnapper. He turns out to be Quilty as expected. Humbert drives to Quilty and murders him. He ends up in prison and writes his Lolita book to be published only when both him and Lolita are dead.
lguzzie's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
“I looked and looked at her, and I knew, as clearly as I know that I will die, that I loved her more than anything I had ever seen or imagined on earth. She was only the dead-leaf echo of the nymphet from long ago - but I loved her, this Lolita, pale and polluted and big with another man's child. She could fade and wither - I didn't care. I would still go mad with tenderness at the mere sight of her face.”
An amalgam of the utterly depraved and the poetically beautiful. Nabakov's prose is nothing short of stunning, sometimes distracting the reader from the disgusting content and even moving them to briefly sympathize with HH. I will say, the French was very annoying, Nabakov acknowledges this, but I am not smart enough to understand the purpose aside from showing HH is an obnoxious intellectual. I get it.
An amalgam of the utterly depraved and the poetically beautiful. Nabakov's prose is nothing short of stunning, sometimes distracting the reader from the disgusting content and even moving them to briefly sympathize with HH. I will say, the French was very annoying, Nabakov acknowledges this, but I am not smart enough to understand the purpose aside from showing HH is an obnoxious intellectual. I get it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content, Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Kidnapping, and Rape
gnomey09's review against another edition
dark
emotional
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0