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A review by whoischels
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
dark
sad
slow-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
5.0
Horrifying descriptions of child sexual abuse and kidnapping. Incredibly difficult to read because the content is so disgusting and visceral. This book is beautifully written and firmly anti-child sex abuse. A lot of people in the reviews here understand the former, and completely miss the latter.
Honestly, one of the most horrifying things about this book, having read it now, is how much the culture misunderstands it. There are people above and below me in the comments calling this either a "love story" or pro-pedophilia. It's not. Humbert is pedophilically obsessed with an idealized Dolores. He never sees the scared child she is. The only time he catches a glimpse of Dolores for who she really isat the very end when he recounts the three times that he saw the sadness and fear in her. He swings and a misses. If he had realized that those painful moments where he recognizes the horror of what he's done to her were the closest he ever got to loving her, perhaps he could have stopped himself from continuing to act on his pedophillic urges.
Nabokov is not sympathetic to Humbert. His name is "Humbert Humbert" for christs sake, how much more obvious can you get that this is not a narrator to be trusted? There is a fictional introduction from a psychiatrist condemning Humbert's actions. Humbert says that he'd give himself 35 years to life just for what he did to Dolores.The man f**gers a child's a**hole while determining whether she's ill enough to need the hospital. He's the most despicable character I've ever read. If I were to somehow meet this fictional man in person, knowing what I know about him, I'd straight up try to k*** him with my bare hands. It would bring me joy to strangle this character.
I don't know if people see this as a love story because reading comprehension is way worse than I thought it was or because people's attitudes toward women and children are way worse than I thought they were. This is deeply depressing to think about. Reading this book and learning how people have adapted it will make you want to give up on culture. The fact that Kubrick could adapt a movie of this in the 60s and play it as a comedy is insane. The fact that his 30 something year old producer dated the underage actress portraying Dolores during the press tour for that movie is insane. The fact that popstars like Lana Del Ray and Katy Perry cast the "sexuality" of "Lolita" in a positive light in their music and interviews (while maintaining they had read the book!!) is insane.
The only conclusion I can come to is that a lot of our culture makers just want to engage with things at face value and many people are too lazy to think about subtext. Then again, it's hardly subtext. For an author who "despises didactic fiction" Nabokov makes it pretty f***ing clear Humbert is a piece of sh*t.
Why did I rate this book five stars when as a rule I generally never rate anything five stars? Because it has revealed something deeply f***ed up about our culture (see: everything I've written above). I already knew that the sexualization of children, particularly young girls, is and has been entirely too permissible in the United States, but somehow I know it more now. This book turned this intellectualized knowledge into a real feeling for me. I am less happy for having read it, but I understand this better now. Wouldn't ever recommend this book to anybody. You just have decide it's time to read it.
_______________________________
As an aside, it is a testament to Nabokov's skill that Dolores shines through as a child persevering through unspeakable suffering in heartbreaking little glimpses, despite the fact that she is being portrayed unfairly by an unreliable narrator. Dolores feels like a real, scared little girl trying hard to act and survive, despite the rosy, false treatment that Humbert gives her. Never read an unreliable narrator story that pulled something like this off so well.
Honestly, one of the most horrifying things about this book, having read it now, is how much the culture misunderstands it. There are people above and below me in the comments calling this either a "love story" or pro-pedophilia. It's not. Humbert is pedophilically obsessed with an idealized Dolores. He never sees the scared child she is. The only time he catches a glimpse of Dolores for who she really is
Nabokov is not sympathetic to Humbert. His name is "Humbert Humbert" for christs sake, how much more obvious can you get that this is not a narrator to be trusted? There is a fictional introduction from a psychiatrist condemning Humbert's actions. Humbert says that he'd give himself 35 years to life just for what he did to Dolores.
I don't know if people see this as a love story because reading comprehension is way worse than I thought it was or because people's attitudes toward women and children are way worse than I thought they were. This is deeply depressing to think about. Reading this book and learning how people have adapted it will make you want to give up on culture. The fact that Kubrick could adapt a movie of this in the 60s and play it as a comedy is insane. The fact that his 30 something year old producer dated the underage actress portraying Dolores during the press tour for that movie is insane. The fact that popstars like Lana Del Ray and Katy Perry cast the "sexuality" of "Lolita" in a positive light in their music and interviews (while maintaining they had read the book!!) is insane.
The only conclusion I can come to is that a lot of our culture makers just want to engage with things at face value and many people are too lazy to think about subtext. Then again, it's hardly subtext. For an author who "despises didactic fiction" Nabokov makes it pretty f***ing clear Humbert is a piece of sh*t.
Why did I rate this book five stars when as a rule I generally never rate anything five stars? Because it has revealed something deeply f***ed up about our culture (see: everything I've written above). I already knew that the sexualization of children, particularly young girls, is and has been entirely too permissible in the United States, but somehow I know it more now. This book turned this intellectualized knowledge into a real feeling for me. I am less happy for having read it, but I understand this better now. Wouldn't ever recommend this book to anybody. You just have decide it's time to read it.
_______________________________
As an aside, it is a testament to Nabokov's skill that Dolores shines through as a child persevering through unspeakable suffering in heartbreaking little glimpses, despite the fact that she is being portrayed unfairly by an unreliable narrator. Dolores feels like a real, scared little girl trying hard to act and survive, despite the rosy, false treatment that Humbert gives her. Never read an unreliable narrator story that pulled something like this off so well.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Pedophilia, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Kidnapping, Sexual assault, and Stalking