Who Would Like This Book:
Nabokov’s writing in Lolita is simply dazzling - his mastery of language, wit, and wordplay make it a feast for readers who love beautiful prose and dark humor. It’s infamous for its subject matter, but ultimately, it’s a novel about obsession, unreliable narration, and the power of storytelling. If you enjoy literary fiction that pushes boundaries, layered satire, and want to see why it’s considered a masterpiece of style and structure, Lolita will be both unsettling and captivating. English majors, literary buffs, and anyone interested in narrative complexity will find much to savor here - even if you may need to keep a dictionary nearby!
Who May Not Like This Book:
Many readers are disturbed - or outright repulsed - by Lolita’s subject: the confession of a charismatic but monstrous narrator who is obsessed with a young girl. If you’re sensitive to topics of child abuse, manipulation, or unreliable narrators that justify the unjustifiable, this can be a tough, distressing read. Some also find the book’s lengthy digressions, dense language, and untranslated foreign phrases pretentious or tedious. If you prefer clear-cut heroes or comfortable stories, this probably isn’t for you.
About:
'Lolita' by Vladimir Nabokov is a controversial and haunting novel that delves into the twisted mind of Humbert Humbert, a pedophile narrating his obsession with a young girl named Lolita. The book is praised for its exquisite language, vivid descriptions, and the way it explores themes of obsession, desire, and the complexities of the human psyche. Despite the uncomfortable subject matter, readers find themselves captivated by the beautiful prose and the dark, multi-layered characters that Nabokov masterfully creates.
The narrative of 'Lolita' is told through the unreliable perspective of Humbert Humbert, who justifies his reprehensible actions while painting a heartbreaking portrait of Lolita, a character who embodies both innocence and corruption. The book skillfully weaves together elements of humor, horror, and tragedy, leaving readers unsettled and conflicted as they navigate through the intricate layers of the story and the characters' motivations.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Triggers include sexual abuse, manipulation, pedophilia, mental illness, and graphic discussions of manipulation and coercion.
From The Publisher:
Awe and exhiliration-along with heartbreak and mordant wit-abound in Lolita, Nabokov's most famous and controversial novel, which tells the story of the aging Humbert Humbert's obsessive, devouring, and doomed passion for the nymphet Dolores Haze. Lolita is also the story of a hypercivilized European colliding with the cheerful barbarism of postwar America. Most of all, it is a meditation on love-love as outrage and hallucination, madness and transformation.
Ratings (300)
Incredible (74) | |
Loved It (80) | |
Liked It (65) | |
It Was OK (43) | |
Did Not Like (28) | |
Hated It (10) |
Reader Stats (591):
Read It (307) | |
Currently Reading (8) | |
Want To Read (199) | |
Did Not Finish (20) | |
Not Interested (57) |
15 comment(s)
Two things:
1. Nabokov was trilingual. His mastery and manipulation of the English language is incredible. It blew my mind.
2. HH did not love Dolores Hayes. He was a sociopath. He loved only himself. He acknowledged Dolly's suffering only in terms of its effect on his life and how it made him feel. A coronary thrombosis was too kind.
Although I understood the contention and message of the book before I started reading it, I just couldn't get through it. Honestly I don't think I even got through one chapter, it was too disturbing or me.
Horrific—and brilliant. It’s an account of the worst person imaginable doing terrible things to a child and telling you as if there were some sense to it all.
It baffles me how many people read the book and miss how blatantly we are meant to detest Humbert Humbert. He is so blatantly awful. But he writes so whimsically! Therein lies the clever trick Nabokov pulls in this book.
There were moments that made me feel ill, and moments that made me laugh out loud. It’s not a book for everyone, but for those willing to engage in subtext, it’s a captivating read.
Honestly, I don't know what to think, or how to rate this book. I was fascinated as I wrote earlier. The writing was great and the story very gripping. It also was not at all what I expected. But I am still disgusted with it at the same time. I read in a description somewhere that it is funny, but I just couldn't get past the subject. So I guess I will leave it unrated.
“The moral sense in mortals is the duty we have to pay on mortal sense of beauty”
When I understood what was happening, I liked the storyline, but half the time I had NO idea what was going on. The whole ending was lost on me. Who the fuck is Clare Quilty? Lame.
When I understood what was happening, I liked the storyline, but half the time I had NO idea what was going on. The whole ending was lost on me. Who the fuck is Clare Quilty? Lame.
3.5
Even if I've only read 26% of this book I'm both deciding to DNF it and give it one stars. No Mather how beautiful the writing it is or how weirdly readable it is can save it from the horrible content of this book. Can't just handle so much of being in the head of a pedofile trying to show his point. In no way is it acceptable to feel what he feels or being as close to "Lolita" as he is. It's sick, it's mental and I have no clue why this is deemed as one of the most loved classics.
“There was still that stream of pale moths siphoned out of the night by my headlights.”
Excruciatingly gorgeous prose littered throughout the entire book from start to finish. With that said, the overly French-filled parts were not my cup of tea but the story, as told from Humbert’s side made it easy to understand the “why” behind his decisions, as alienating as they might be.
What can you read after
Lolita?
About the Author:
Vladimir Nabokov studied French and Russian literature at Trinity College, Cambridge, then lived in Berlin and Paris, writing prolifically in Russian under the pseudonym Sirin. In 1940, he left France for America, where he wrote some of his greatest works-Bend Sinister (1947), Lolita (1955), Pnin (1957),…
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