Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Lolita
Book Review: A definite classic
Summary: 5 Stars
This is undoubtedly one of the best books ever written. The language is amazing; sensual, poetic and full of texture. Ignore anyone who tells you that this is a book about paedophilia. It`s a sensitive portrayal of a man weighed down by his obsession with Lolita and an intelligent representation of their time together.Book Review: Breath Taking
Summary: 5 Stars
A beutifully writen masterpiece, often desturbing but always interesting, dont be scared off by negative reviews just read it and make up your own mind, dont believe anyone who says that this is just an excuse for smut as they obviously have not read or understood the book.I must say that i dont think this book should be read by youngsters or people who have trouble telling the difference between fiction and reality!
Book Review: Darkly sensuous and disturbingly beautiful
Summary: 5 Stars
Lolita is in many ways an extraordinary book. Not only in its choice of subject matter which is perhaps more controversial today then it was in the 1950s but also in the style of writing. It is perhaps the best written book that I have ever read. Nabokov's writing style has a richness that is even more remarkable given that it is not his native tongue. The expert use of allusion, extended metaphor and generously evocative imagery makes this a book to savour slowly and one that is closer at times to poetry than prose.But what a poem. Humbert Humbert is perhaps the very model of the antihero but as he is also the narrator everything is seen through the prism of his own monstrous and predatory lusts. Lolita herself, as Humbert admits, remains something of an enigma throughout. The narrator is unable to see her as an individual and she is portrayed as the archetypal 'nymphet,' who serves merely to serve his own needs. Any deviation from this role is regarded as betrayal. But then the book is entitled Lolita not Delores Hayes and 'Lolita' is no more than the perfect nymphet lurking inside Humbert's diseased brain never a girl of blood and flesh.
Humbert does not in fact offer much in the way of self justification beyond the occasional admission of insanity and his sickening claims to truly love the girl. He also seems to grow in awareness of his perversion as the novel goes on but never seems to regret it. He starts by offering various justifications of child brides from history but his final allusion is to Sade's Justine which is surely an admission of guilt. But the prose is so tender and so darkly comic that all this is repeatedly obscured and Nabokov manages to win you a twisted sympathy for his protagonist even, almost, for his predicament. So much of it seems so reasonable the way Humbert tells it.
This is largely because the way the feelings and desires of little Delores herself are so obscured by Humbert's dark longings. This of course serves to make it all the more poignant on the odd occasion that they do surface. When Humbert is in his first rapture of paradise after possessing young Lolita he describes his joy to search an extent and with such tenderness that the reader could be forgiving for believing Lolita welcomed his advances. Until he lets drop in a single sentence that she cries herself to sleep every single night.
A rich though black humour also punctuates the novel for all that it goes on to breed horror. The earlier sections especially those concerning his first wife, her Tsarist lover and Humbert's Arctic expeditions are quite hilarious. The book also deals with a definite sense of place and of being out of place. Humbert,, like Nabokov,, is a European new to the New World and though his depiction of America is not always flattering it is often insightful. No nostalgia is ever shown for 'rotting Europe' however even if he feels it gives him a superiority over the banal pretensions of his new countrymen. Despite his other predilections Humbert is a huge intellectual snob and his writing will probably appeal most to those who feel themselves akin to him in this respect, if no other.
Lolita is a dark and engrossing masterpiece and is in many ways more beautiful then it has any right to be. There is nothing pornographic or prurient about it but it does raise some quite complicated emotions in the reader. It should rightly be considered a classic but is rightly controversial and is quite simply one of the most astonishing things I have ever read. Much as I deplore censorship there is certainly something playfully dangerous about Lolita and it should only be recommended to the more sophisticated reader.
Book Review: Dizzying
Summary: 5 Stars
So I finally finished this delicious book. It's taken ages to read because you just want to read and re-read and re-read pages, paragraphs, sentences. You just can't help yourself becoming immersed in the whole debauched affair. The important thing to understand about this book, is that it's not so much about Humbert Humbert taking advantage of an innocent, as the "innocent" taking advantage of him, with a helping hand from fate along the way. This is very much a story about obsession, desire and paranoia. One where surprisingly the most well-adjusted and mature character is probably Lolita herself who unlike everyone else in the story is utterly in charge of their destiny. Perhaps not so surprising really, since it is her sexuality that drives virtually every character in the story, even her mum, who resents her daughter's dominance in the field. This is made clear when out of the blue she declares her love for Humbert. She has seen the way Lolita paws all over him, the way he obsesses over her, so fixated by jealousy to ensnare Humbert is to re-assert her dominance as the "alpha female" in the relationship. Well, I could go on, but the twists and turns of the story, the subtleties, unexpected conincedences and sheer quality of the writing will leave you reeling. I guarantee it. The magnificent command of prose displayed by Nabokov is the sort that once you think you've found some enlightening subtext through your own musings you can only come to the conclusion that it's all so very deliberate. Every facet, twist and turn has been so meticulously crafted as to leave you wondering why you never read it before. And the author's Russian for goodness sake. Amis, nice try but you just can't do it this well.To not love or be enveloped in the scandalous obsession prevalent in this book is to be emotionally sterile. I defy you not to love this book.
Book Review: Marvellous, erudite, brilliant, prose masterpiece!
Summary: 5 Stars
Let me say at the outset that I have never read a book like this ever before! The marvelous writing is magical: alliteration, puns, word-play, allusions, metaphor, simile, poetry, lyricism, humour, wit, sarcasm...this and much more make Lolita a delight to read just for Nabokov's astonishing use of the English language with its veritable palimpsest of verbal textures. He is THE master of language--bar none! In this respect the work becomes precisely that rare thing: a piece of literature that is also a work of Art. To some extent the plot of this masterpiece is not as important (in my view) as the style of writing. It is so astonishing, so beautiful, so clever. So clever in fact that there exists an Annotated version to explain all of Nabokov's hints, references and allusions in his text.
The poetically inclined reader will enjoy its many hidden pleasures regardless; however the plot is also tightly controlled and the characterization is also brilliantly done. Especially of Humbert and Lolita although the secondary myriad of people who crop up in this tale are also well defined. The subject matter is pedophilia (hence the notoriety the book has achieved) --and incest --this does not prevent one from simultaneously understanding and feeling pity as well as poignancy and revulsion for the male protagonist whereas in a less well written work dealing with this taboo subject it would be very easy to decline into stereotypes and portray the pedophile as a one-dimensional evil villain. Likewise the nymphet is portrayed with a variety of personae-reflecting real people rather than just a stereotype!--and not just that of a helpless victim or a seductress. This is a remarkable achievement and, for once, --from all the novels I have read which are considered 'classics'--this one really deserves the accolade. It is without doubt the most engaging, clever and disturbingly brilliant work of fiction I have yet had the pleasure to read.