Reviews with content warning for Child abuse - Lolita

There is no doubt this novel is elegantly and well written but it is entirely impossible to enjoy reading it. Humber Humberts is an awful, piece of shit specimen of a person. Outside of the obvious fact that he is a pedophile

who rapes a 12 year old

, he spends the whole book defending his actions and obsessions, he's a male manipulator, controlling Lolita through blackmailing and physical abuse and is a mysoginist, not only to Lolita but to numerous other women throughout the book. All the while he claims that his disturbing, creepy and disgusting obsession with Lolita is love. Vladimir Nabokov should never have written this book.

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ettan's review against another edition

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The way the book is written was interesting and at times beautiful. Challenging read both in terms of language and content. I couldn't finish it because of the dark themes, it made me uncomfortable and very sad. "How reliable is the narrator" was one of my main thoughts when reading it. At times the main protagonist could go on about his interpretation of events for multiple pages and just briefly mention something terrible or how the victim reacted "according to him".

I do not wish to continue it, but do not regret giving it a try.

I made a google doc of quotes that made my stomach turn, 2 from over 10 pages worth;

"-adorable pubescent pet..."
"-I often felt we lived in a lighted house of glass, and any moment some thin-lipped parchment face would peer through a carelessly unshaded window to obtain a free glimpse of things that the most jaded voyeur would have paid a small fortune to watch..."

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ferris_wheel's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense 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

After a month or so of this book weighing heavy on my mind, I completed it with tears. A painful memoir of a charismatic, lying pedophile. To be swayed by the words of Humbert Humbert because as a reader you do not know what really happened. The eyes of Humbert are evil and therefore project evil. The sadness I felt once finishing the book was for Dolores. She’s not real, but her story is real for many children.

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tasha98's review against another edition

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jessn924's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious sad tense 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

3.75

Nature of characters keeps you reading to find out what will happen to the characters. Twists were unexpected and dark. Very tense and hard to read at some points, somewhat slow in between tense moments

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lisvxdro's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I will admit that I had some trouble getting through this not because of the subject matter, but by my lack of focus. Nabokov’s writing is descriptive, delicate, tongue-in-cheek, and funny at some points. One misread and the next few sentence (even words) become confusing. That is to say that you must pay attention, which I had trouble with. Not because of his writing, but of my own focus. I will need to re-read this at a later time with more focus.

This book is considered by many one of the greatest pieces of modern literature. Im failing to understand why or how it’s celebrated. Is it due to the psychological deep dive of Humbert Humbert and his way with words or the portrayal of such a topic that is now obviously incredibly repulsive. I was hesitant to give it 4-stars for my first read but I feel like it’s mainly due to my understanding.

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liathibault's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

completely and absolutely horrifying to read, yet a work of literary genius. if you’re uncomfortable reading this, you should be.

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hannah1604xx's review against another edition

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Dull dull dull

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