Lolita

 Originally published December 19, 2009.

Author: Vladimir Nabokov
Published: 1955
Publisher: Vintage
309 pages (paperback)

Summary: Humbert Humbert has, for as long as he can remember, had a passion, an obsession, for little girls aged 9 to 14, who he affectionately refers to as ‘nymphets’. Humbert knows he cannot act on his feelings, and thus, tries to settle for a normal life with a woman closer to his age as his wife. But when she cheats on him, she moves away and he ends up living in a new house with a new landlady and it is there he meets his beloved nymphet, Dolores who he calls Lolita. Humbert has never felt this way about any nymphet before. He secretly spies on Lolita all day, he longs for her, but he does not do anything to cross the line. That is, until Lolita decides to cross the line herself.

My Thoughts: A word of caution, this book is not for everyone, and I’m not just talking about the subject matter. The style of writing is both frustrating and mesmerizing at the same time. It is very vividly descriptive, so for people who are uncomfortable reading about such stories, you may need to prepare yourself a bit. It is a very cleverly written, a very beautifully written novel, and I completely understand why this novel is considered a classic and one of the finest pieces of literature in the 20th century.

With that said, I also understand why this book was temporarily banned in some places. It’s pretty easy to dismiss Lolita as a story about a crazy pedophile who rapes this poor little 12 year old. Believe me, I thought that too when I was reading along, during the first half. But as you continue the story, it becomes apparent that Humbert Humbert did not start off crazy. He tried, for a time, to live normally, satisfying his obsession with sitting on park benches to watch little girls on the playground. But then he met his Lolita and you realize that it is this little girl, Dolores, who pushes him over the edge. Dolores (or Dolly, or Lo, or Lolita) is not an innocent little girl. She is a complete brat, and already has had sex at age twelve at camp. She knows Humbert likes her, and she fully takes advantage of that. This is not a story about a man who is corrupted by his thoughts and in turn, corrupts others, but rather, it is a story about this little twelve year old corrupting Humbert, exploiting him and driving him into madness.

However, in terms of enjoyability and ease of reading, it’s difficult. Humbert tends to go off on tangents so at times, it is difficult to follow his train of thought. It is written in an unconventional style. This is not exactly a book you can pick up and read leisurely — you have to pay attention and concentrate. Once you are sufficiently prepared for the difficulty, the book is a pleasant read and the story is interesting, however, I found the middle of the novel, around the ending of part one and the beginnings of part two, very boring, personally. I had to force myself to read through that part until things got interesting again.

And this is where I feel conflicted, because I feel this novel is quite brilliant in writing and in story and want to rate it highly for that, yet at the same time, the draggy part and difficulty of reading it makes me want to rate it low. So I think I will just go for a middle-ish rating …

My Rating: 3/5