Author: Vladimir Nabokov
Published: 1955
Genre: Tragic Comedy
Rating: 5/5
For several years I have been familiar with the name Lolita and references to the novel by Nabokov. Japanese anime and comics that sexualize young girls is termed Lolita. The dress fashion inspired by the Victorian era is also referred to as Lolita fashion in which frills and bows are plentiful giving woman a girlish appearance. My favorite song by The Police Don't Stand So Close to me lyrics contain a reference to the novel: He starts to shake and cough/Just like the old man in/That book by Nabakov. Another band I like, The Vernoicas, released a new song entitled "Lolita" recently as well. For all the cultural references I had come across I knew it was time to read the novel.
Humbert is a scholar who never quite recovered from the loss of his childhood love and becomes obsessed with "nymphets" as an adult. When he begins to board with a widow and her twelve-year-old daughter he becomes infatuated with Dolores, whom he calls Lolita. He will do anything to have her, even marry her mother to gain access to his Lolita. When his new wife dies Humbert finds himself in the perfect situation as being the stepfather of the orphaned Dolores. Not only will he be her father, he will also be her lover.
What I loved most about this novel was the highly involved psychological plot as the reader is driven into Humbert's mentality. While desiring a twelve-year-old in modern society is considered pedophilia, a few short centuries ago Lolita would have been considered of marriageable age. What is right and wrong? Is Humbert a villain or does society's changed values only label him as one?
(#18 of the 100 Book Challenge)
That book is class good writing. Humbert is a dirty perv no question - I read the book multiple times as a literature major. I one time saw an old perv - a known child molester - at the local public library sitting in the children's section reading that book with a visible, ahem...well, let's just say it was obvious he was enjoying the book. I wanted to kick him right in the knee (only slightly higher).
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