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joppen's reviews
46 reviews
Coyote Doggirl by Lisa Hanawalt
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
relaxing
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
Perfect palate cleanser after Lolita. Short, sweet, funny, also deals with sexual assault a bit but in a much more loving way that places the victim first. I also love analyzing the art, and considering when she chooses to paint these huge beautiful landscapes and when she chooses a minimalistic character against empty white spaces. I love every Lisa Hanawalt touches.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
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
3.5
Read this (very slowly) after listening to Jamie Loftus’ incredible Lolita Podcast, which goes into depth about how this book has been dangerously misinterpreted and adapted.
Reading it for myself, I can’t for the life of me see how anyone could read this and interpret it as a love story. When I got the book I was shocked to see the insert sleeve, calling it “a love story almost shocking in its beauty and tenderness,” and a blurb on the back from says it’s the “only convincing love story of our century.” It’s not. It’s literally about a pedophile abducting and r*ping a 12-year old girl for years. The book is literally never ambiguous about that.
Horrible, despicable, unbelievable misinterpretations aside, this book is beautifully written and deeply harrowing. Nabakov’s prose is incredible especially because English isn’t even his first language?? The writing especially lends itself to the book’s unreliable narrator theme when Humbert is describing these horrible acts he commits, while simultaneously trying to construct poems and witticisms to appease the reader. It only adds to his despicable he is (to anyone with any sense of reading comprehension.)
Overall a very hard read but I’m glad I got through it. Gonna listen to the podcast again.
Reading it for myself, I can’t for the life of me see how anyone could read this and interpret it as a love story. When I got the book I was shocked to see the insert sleeve, calling it “a love story almost shocking in its beauty and tenderness,” and a blurb on the back from says it’s the “only convincing love story of our century.” It’s not. It’s literally about a pedophile abducting and r*ping a 12-year old girl for years. The book is literally never ambiguous about that.
Horrible, despicable, unbelievable misinterpretations aside, this book is beautifully written and deeply harrowing. Nabakov’s prose is incredible especially because English isn’t even his first language?? The writing especially lends itself to the book’s unreliable narrator theme when Humbert is describing these horrible acts he commits, while simultaneously trying to construct poems and witticisms to appease the reader. It only adds to his despicable he is (to anyone with any sense of reading comprehension.)
Overall a very hard read but I’m glad I got through it. Gonna listen to the podcast again.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, and Violence
Minor: Gun violence and Death of parent