Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
Whelp, I finally did it, I read Lolita. Although Vladimir Nabokov did an amazing job with such a difficult and disturbing subject matter, I can’t say that I like this book.
Let’s begin with what I did enjoy about this book - the wordplay. Vladimir Nabokov wrote Lolita in prose, but unlike any prose I’ve ever seen before. On top of this, Nabokov was obsessed with word games which evolved into beautiful descriptions or relief from the heavy topic. There was wit and charm in abundance and the fact that English was Nabokov’s third or fourth language and he was still so skilled with this wordplay is impressive.
The second thing I liked was even though this book dealt with offensive content, Vladimir was smart in not writing vivid descriptions but rather used his wordplay that made everything feel light and airy. While still grotesque, the sensual detail had a level of tenderness in Humbert’s longing and lust.
Now, for what I didn’t like about this book.
Sometimes, the wordplay became confusing and I had to reread sections as I couldn’t tell if the scene was real or if Humbert was being carried away on another fantasy. Sometimes, the wordplay became too much and I think a lot of pages could have been removed and Nabokov would have achieved a more desired effect.
Also, the characters came off as one-dimensional. For example, Lolita is never really worthy of compassion as from beginning to end she acts the same way. And she isn’t anywhere close to endearing. Don’t get me wrong, what happens to her is horrendous and I feel terrible by what happens to her, but I still wanted to strangle her due to the way she acts and wasn’t fully compassionate to her as an individual.
And finally, once the seduction takes place, the book loses its forward momentum, becoming repetitive. Although the wordplay is still charming and witty, I felt like I had already read the exact same paragraph 5 chapters before.
This book is worth reading since it is a classic and Vladimir is a writer on his own level, but you won’t necessarily want to recommend it to others, nor will you probably ever want to reread it.
Synopsis: Humbert Humbert - scholar, aesthete and romantic - has fallen completely and utterly in love with Lolita Haze, his landlady's gum-snapping, silky skinned twelve-year-old daughter.