Reviews tagging 'Murder'

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

169 reviews

floorvm's review against another edition

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

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia and Murder

Moderate: Rape

jani_mcgonagall's review against another edition

I was prepared, but still I couldn't finish it... The style was quite difficult (yet very wel written), and the topic was more than difficult... I tried, but I felt awful. I was intrigued by the idea of being inside the head of a psychopath, which still was true.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Alcohol, Death of parent, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Adult/minor relationship, Car accident, Child abuse, Toxic relationship, Incest, and Murder

marageorge's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark emotional 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Sexual assault, Toxic relationship, Pedophilia, Rape, Domestic abuse, Death, Child abuse, and Sexual content

Moderate: Gun violence and Murder

Minor: Pregnancy

racheltrow_'s review against another edition

challenging dark 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

4.5

How dare he write such a fucked book in the most beautiful prose and it not even be his first language. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Pedophilia, Rape, Child abuse, Adult/minor relationship, Sexual assault, and Incest

Moderate: Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Racism, Death of parent, Alcoholism, Murder, Mental illness, Violence, Drug abuse, and Car accident

jcstokes95's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-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

2.25

 

Look, it’s not even that I have an issue with the grotesque content. I have no problem with books about morally fucked characters and there is a place for literature even I think it’s subject matter it bonkers. I just do not like this writing style at all. I recognize I am probably in the minority here. But I found this very difficult to get through. 

I don’t have a nice organized through process on this, so let’s do bullet points: 

-> I appreciated the purposeful mix of salacious moments while Nabokov veils the actual act of rape throughout the text. It gives us the sense Humbert knows his crimes are heinous and immoral; he knows his invisible jury would damn him immediately if described. 

-> I found the most interesting portion to be the few end chapters, where Dolores is grown and we get some glimpse into how this ends for her. Part of my reason for reading this text is I would like to read My Dark Vanessa, which is a response to Lolita. I think I will find that more interesting as it promises to get into the head of the manipulated. 

-> While I know “too much French” isn’t a real criticism of a book, I would love if the publisher of my copy had put some damn translations in. Nabokov seems obsessed with puns (like his narrator) and language. Seems a shame to not get the whole of that context. If you can find an edition with notes, that might increase your reading experience of this. 

-> The fact that there are people who actually still read this as a love story or story of mutual seduction is wild. Jail! Prison! Send them to jail! Gross! 

-> I really do find this writing style grating. This is personal preference. I thought it was the narrator’s choices intentionally making it so. But my copy has a letter Nabokov wrote after publication at the end, and I can confirm that was written in a strange style too. Fascinating content though, at the end he seems majorly annoyed that he has to stop writing in Russian, where he thinks he was superior and instead use English for his novels. In general, this makes me more interested in how bilingual novelists feel about writing in various tongues. 

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Emotional abuse, Child abuse, Rape, Pedophilia, Sexual violence, and Incest

Moderate: Death of parent and Murder

shayh's review against another edition

dark emotional tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot

4.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Racial slurs, Death, Racism, Toxic relationship, Death of parent, and Incest

Minor: Vomit, Alcohol, Domestic abuse, Gun violence, Gaslighting, and Murder

differentsisters's review against another edition

challenging dark mysterious tense slow-paced

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

3.75

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Incest, Kidnapping, Pedophilia, Sexual assault, Child abuse, and Adult/minor relationship

Moderate: Murder, Death of parent, Car accident, Gun violence, and Gaslighting

Minor: Stalking

maureenky's review against another edition

dark 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? It's complicated

2.0

Christ this was so long for absolutely no reason whatsoever. I'm rating it a 2 solely based on the fact that there were parts of the book that I felt like Dolores was getting the better of the main character. Otherwise, the prose is exceptionally dry and quite frankly, extremely out of sorts for 85% of the book. It's labeled as a classic due to its dryness, and taught in classrooms due to the fact that that there are many places a professor could find their pupils slipping up and not reading the material.

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape, Adult/minor relationship, Alcohol, Stalking, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Sexual content, Emotional abuse, Sexual assault, and Kidnapping

Moderate: Murder, Death, and Death of parent

Minor: Car accident, Incest, and Gun violence

wrensandroses's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny mysterious reflective 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

5.0

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Trafficking, Car accident, Gun violence, Emotional abuse, Domestic abuse, Sexual assault, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Murder, Death, Sexual violence, Rape, Kidnapping, and Child abuse

Moderate: Mental illness and Incest

Minor: Antisemitism and Pregnancy

beepbuggy's review against another edition

dark medium-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

5.0

the book is sick and so is the main character but the writing and prose is so amazing it makes the reader think he might be normal but then you think about it and you know he isnt 😭😭 it’s actually so good tho

---

Content Warnings

Graphic: Stalking, Toxic relationship, Incest, Physical abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Death of parent, Adult/minor relationship, Gaslighting, Child abuse, Mental illness, Murder, Rape, and Sexual content