Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Lolita
Book Review: Great trip inside the mind of a madman
Summary: 4 Stars
Lolita is much more than a love story between a pedophile and his object of desire. It's a fascinating glimpse inside the mind of a man who is slowly but surely going insane. Granted, you're not quite right in the head when you refer to 12-year-old girls as "nymphets," but throw in a little insomnia, a few murderous thoughts, some hallucinations and a heck of a lot of paranoia and you got yourself a crazy man! Nabokov's mastery of the written word makes this novel a delightful read considering the disturbing subject matter. You'll marvel at the fact you're chuckling at passages which would normally make your skin crawl. Nabokov is the lord of literature and Lolita is his masterpiece.Book Review: Humerous but sensitive, a book to fall in love with.
Summary: 5 Stars
Humbert Humbert is an aging academic with a penchant for purple prose and little girls. Lolita is twelve, with dirty fingernails and a dirtier mind, and Humbert Humbert is obsessed. As the book progresses, the obsession flowers into love. Not the justifiable and therefore weaker love of romantic fiction - his love is unrewarded by any merit or response from Lolita, - Humbert Humbert's love draws its sustenance from his carnal obsession. Nabokov's book is sensitive and funny, a black humour that laughs at love, but does not mock it. Don't be put off by the flowery adjectives and French quotations. This book tells you how to love.Book Review: love, yes, but self love
Summary: 5 Stars
This is one of the finest novels, and undoubtedly the best joke, in the English language. Humbert inspires respect, and even awe, in the societies in which he's lived. The type of reader who can pick his way through the labyrinthine prose automatically identifies with Humbert's literary accomplishment. Yet the book is about banal and sordid self-obsession. Humbert analyzes and reanalyzes his life and lusts. He laughs at his therapists yet 'blames' his childhood misfortune for his predilection for nymphets. His failure to escape from the monster he's made himself has disastrous consequences for a young girl, struggling to come to terms with her own sexuality under difficult circumstances. This book tells us a lot about love, but only because one can't help catching distorted glimpses of oneself in the mind of the monster. The combination of darkly humorous perception and profound sincerity is terrifying.Book Review: the illstration of desires
Summary: 5 Stars
Nabokov's literary masterpiece is tantalising to the senses. For me the ultimate pleasure in this novel lies in its ability to discuss and elucidate in its very form the fallible nature of art. Lolita becomes more than just a 'nymphet' in fact she represents and embodies Humbert's desires, having at times 'no life of her own'. Humbert's manipulation of reality enables an essentially vulgar little girl to be metamorphosed into an iconic ideal beauty - into Art itself. Dreams are what we wish them to be. A life changing book.Book Review: Not the book you probably think it is
Summary: 5 Stars
Nabokov is among a handful of authors able to use the English language with effortless skill. Lolita is full of subtleties and nuances, comedic psuedonyms for the many quirky characters, colourful dialogue, exploration of the blurry line between love and lust. Comedy and tragedy combine in this beautiful, original, witty love story.