Reviews tagging 'Misogyny'

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

70 reviews

directorpurry's review against another edition

dark reflective sad 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

4.0

CW: There are so many in this bad boy... Pedophilia and victim blaming, mostly, but also SO MUCH statutory rape, Spoilerdeath of a parent, kidnapping, description of a corpse, stalking.
Updated 2020 rating: 3.5 stars

This is one of a short list of books where I can understand why some school districts and governments choose to ban it. While I find the writing to be absolutely amazing, at times almost breathtaking, the contents contained are questionable at best, atrocious at worst.
At times, Lolita is a book that can feel necessary to defend the reasons why you like it. I'll do my best to explain here:

Not to knock down the high-brow element of my review, but there's a Tumblr joke that has made the rounds about how the opposite of a "Manic Pixie Dream Girl" (usually a film trope character) is a "Depressed Goblin Nightmare Man" and how that is often a trope character of literature.
Not only that, it's often a popular trope character. (I'm looking at you, Erik, from The Phantom of the Opera.) Humbert Humbert is absolutely a "Depressed Goblin Nightmare Man" (DGNM from here on out).
He has combination of what it takes to make a DGNM, such as the cocky attitude. While HH spends most of the book degrading himself as "weak" or non-confrontational, he also spends the majority of the book strutting around like Lolita owes herself to him. Whenever she does something he doesn't like, he emotionally manipulates her into sleeping with him or forgiving him. HH also constantly blames his victims, these "Nymphets," who have done nothing more than behave like themselves, children who have no concept of the way he watches, stalks, and harasses many of them. Although he says he knows what he's doing wrong, HH ultimately places the blame on everyone but himself.

And Nabokov clearly knows what he's doing.
I've often noticed that many writers of "high" literature explore taboo topics far, far past the bounds of normalcy or even understanding. But it takes both an excellent writer and a committed reader to see past the surface topic to find the commentary underneath. Which isn't to say I blame anyone who hates or chooses not to even attempt this book because of the topic - I absolutely understand why people would want to chuck this book off a cliff.
But when I read it, I can see Nabokov's sarcastic attitude behind the words, the way he twists HH's own words against him as a narrator, making him at once unreliable and perfectly believable in his earnestness.
Lolita is clearly a girl suffering intense distress from her, at times, neglectful mother to her constant abuse and rape at the hands of HH. She shows many signs of abused children, from hiding food and money to her acting out in school and losing interest in hobbies.
There are many marks of Nabokov's deep involvement with these characters. I love the way he wrote this terrible book, and his characters are completely fascinating to me.

Additionally, I read this book for the first time just as I graduated high school, when I was personally quite enraptured by man DGNM in media. Outside of school work, this was one of the first "adult" "literature" books I elected to read on my own and I was completely swept away by the writing.
I'd like to think I've matured enough now as a reader to critique HH's status as a DGNM and as a writer to really absorb and understand the craft that went into this novel.
It's hard to say I "like" this book, but I would, perhaps, say I respect it. While perhaps no longer a 5-star because of my more nuanced understanding of the actual topic, rather than reading it when I was, in fact, still a teenager/child myself, the strong writing will always push it close to 4-stars for me.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Murder, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Sexual violence, Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Sexual harassment, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Kidnapping, and Rape

Moderate: Racism

Minor: Child death and Physical abuse

kayesomething's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, and Gaslighting

Moderate: Death of parent, Car accident, Rape, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Gun violence, Racial slurs, and Racism

Minor: Pregnancy, Antisemitism, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Homophobia, Death, and Body shaming

marinarc's review against another edition

dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Stalking

davidrb's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

Not giving this one a rating.

One of my favorite books when it comes to technical skill and the clear love and talent Nabokov has for his craft, a marvel of characterization that is almost too strong, and at the same time the worst book to actually read. This is my first time returning to it since I was about Dolly's age, and it's as profoundly upsetting as it gets. Nobody wins.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Child abuse, Child death, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Grief, Gun violence, Incest, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Stalking, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, and Violence

coldcojones's review against another edition

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

0.25

It’s just gross.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Misogyny, Sexism, Pedophilia, and Child abuse

sleepingjess's review against another edition

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

4.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Misogyny, and Rape

Moderate: Murder

maryyylorraine's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Abandonment, Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Child abuse, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Murder, Pregnancy, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence

izzymvt's review against another edition

challenging dark 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

2.0

Ok so this book 😐 it was super uncomfortable at parts obviously but the writing was just sooo god damn booorrrriiinnngggg Like he literally spends yeeaarsss covering random boring bits that have little to no connection to the story aswell as the extremely confusing development of characters where I had to look things up to understand I would literally nevvverrrr read this again and I didn’t even add any tags because I really don’t think anyone should try to find this book unless you want something less fun to do while you watch paint dryxx I hate you Vladimir 😡

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Death, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Murder, Pedophilia, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, and Sexual violence

jmcordero's review against another edition

challenging dark sad 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

3.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gaslighting, Kidnapping, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual harassment, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Trafficking

Moderate: Abandonment, Alcohol, Body shaming, Car accident, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Fatphobia, Incest, Infidelity, and Physical abuse

Minor: Pregnancy and Stalking

karenaerts's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

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

5.0

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Death of parent, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, and Rape

Moderate: Alcohol, Blood, Body shaming, Car accident, Drug use, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Mental illness, Misogyny, Murder, Pregnancy, Racism, and Stalking