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alexcannotread 's review for:
Lolita
by Vladimir Nabokov
"I loved you. I was a pentapod monster, but I loved you. I was despicable and brutal, and turpid, and everything, mais je t'aimais, je t'aimais! And there were times when I knew how you felt, and it was hell to know it, my little one."
Lolita was one hell of a trip. The story follows Humbert Humbert, a decently handsome man, who tries to refrain from his perversions but finds himself absolutely incapable after finding and falling in love with 12 year old nymphet Dolores Haze (AKA Dolly, Lo, Lolita).
Of course, Humbert is an unreliable narrator, writing this story, with the intention of publication, in a jail cell for committing murder. That, plus the fact that in the end Dolores left him and had no romantic feelings toward him whatsoever probably made him want to fudge the story a bit. So most likely, certain emotions carried out throughout the novel were probably written more in his favor. Ex.: Lolita coming on to him, Lolita being exuberantly bratty, Humbert being as kind and patient as he claimed to be. Although, many miss-evaluations through his perspective could have also been due to the fact that his love-blindness wouldn't let him see through to the fact that while he was relishing in her company, Lo was for the most part abhorred by him as well as depressed by the situation and growing loneliness.
From the beginning to around the middle of this novel, I continued sympathizing with Lolita, giving the reasons that she was a child, she was the victim, and she was the orphan prey of a pervert. However, I ultimately couldn't help hating her completely after their first journey around the states began. The reason for this, once again, is because of the way she was viewed by our unreliable narrator. Still, her bratty-ness did make me cringe a lot, especially during the chapters leading up to her escape.
Also she does deserve sympathy, she was not a perfect or more less even good person either. Molded by the relationship her and Humbert ensue upon, she grows up with ill ideals and no appreciation for her what possible joy could be in the miserable life she must leave. Arguably, it could be said that Lolita had more control in the relationship then Humbert had. Constantly working to appease her as to give her as much comfort possible so she would not run away, Humbert was practically tied around Lolita's finger. This was another reason why I found myself sympathizing more towards our protagonist then towards Lolita; he was just so utterly controlled by his love for Lolita and therefore Lolita herself.
Talking aside from the plot, this book was absolutely beautifully written. I have a feeling the way it was so intricately composed was due in part to the original writing being in Russian, but still, I couldn't help continously asking myself while reading "How does a human know how to compile a bunch of words so gracefully?" The vocabulary was sometimes big and the passages could also be in very long paragraph, which is why I'd say this is a very mature read, alongside the plot itself of course.
At points this book did get a bit boring for me, but that feeling usually only lasted for a chapter, and then the story went back to being interesting again.
Overall, I rate this novel 3 stars ★★★☆☆
Lolita was one hell of a trip. The story follows Humbert Humbert, a decently handsome man, who tries to refrain from his perversions but finds himself absolutely incapable after finding and falling in love with 12 year old nymphet Dolores Haze (AKA Dolly, Lo, Lolita).
Of course, Humbert is an unreliable narrator, writing this story, with the intention of publication, in a jail cell for committing murder. That, plus the fact that in the end Dolores left him and had no romantic feelings toward him whatsoever probably made him want to fudge the story a bit. So most likely, certain emotions carried out throughout the novel were probably written more in his favor. Ex.: Lolita coming on to him, Lolita being exuberantly bratty, Humbert being as kind and patient as he claimed to be. Although, many miss-evaluations through his perspective could have also been due to the fact that his love-blindness wouldn't let him see through to the fact that while he was relishing in her company, Lo was for the most part abhorred by him as well as depressed by the situation and growing loneliness.
From the beginning to around the middle of this novel, I continued sympathizing with Lolita, giving the reasons that she was a child, she was the victim, and she was the orphan prey of a pervert. However, I ultimately couldn't help hating her completely after their first journey around the states began. The reason for this, once again, is because of the way she was viewed by our unreliable narrator. Still, her bratty-ness did make me cringe a lot, especially during the chapters leading up to her escape.
Also she does deserve sympathy, she was not a perfect or more less even good person either. Molded by the relationship her and Humbert ensue upon, she grows up with ill ideals and no appreciation for her what possible joy could be in the miserable life she must leave. Arguably, it could be said that Lolita had more control in the relationship then Humbert had. Constantly working to appease her as to give her as much comfort possible so she would not run away, Humbert was practically tied around Lolita's finger. This was another reason why I found myself sympathizing more towards our protagonist then towards Lolita; he was just so utterly controlled by his love for Lolita and therefore Lolita herself.
Talking aside from the plot, this book was absolutely beautifully written. I have a feeling the way it was so intricately composed was due in part to the original writing being in Russian, but still, I couldn't help continously asking myself while reading "How does a human know how to compile a bunch of words so gracefully?" The vocabulary was sometimes big and the passages could also be in very long paragraph, which is why I'd say this is a very mature read, alongside the plot itself of course.
At points this book did get a bit boring for me, but that feeling usually only lasted for a chapter, and then the story went back to being interesting again.
Overall, I rate this novel 3 stars ★★★☆☆