Product Description

Humbert Humbert is a middle-aged, fastidious college professor. He also likes little girls. And none more so than Lolita, who he’ll do anything to possess. Is he in love or insane? A silver-tongued poet or a pervert? A tortured soul or a monster? …Or is he all of these?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #23320 in Books
• Published on: 2000-02-03
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 336 pages

Review
The subject matter, of a middle-aged man desiring a young girl, a nymphet of 12 at the beginning of their affair, was so outrageous that the sheer delicacy and also the wit of the writing was hardly commented on. Lolita was not, in fact, about sex - it was about love and it was about erotic emotion, not any kind of pornography. Humbert is one of the most self-aware narrators in contemporary fiction, and mocks, and derides, and lashes himself with wonderful energy. He sees himself as others see him and is merciless in attacking what he is doing to Lolita, quite clear-eyed about what she is doing to herself. None of Nabokov's other work has the vitality and beauty of this extraordinary novel. (Kirkus UK)

Ten years out of the typewriter, the master's own script, "not in pettish refutation of a munificent film but purely as a vivacious variant of an old novel" - a minor curiosity but undoubtedly a must have for Nabokovians. (Kirkus Reviews)

About the Author
Vladimir Nabokov was born in St Petersburg in 1899, but he left Russia when the Bolsheviks seized power. His family moved to England for a brief spell and finally settled in Berlin. His first novel in English was The Real Life of Sebastian Knight, published in 1941. His other books include Ada, Laughter in the Dark, Details of a Sunset and Lolita, his best-known novel. Nabokov died in Montreux, Switzerland in 1977.

Customer Reviews

"You see, she had absolutely nowhere else to go"
For as long as I can remember I have resisted reading Lolita. But because it is so often referred to as a "classic" I felt in the end I should put aside my prejudices and tackle it.

In many ways it is as I expected it to be. It is not a comfortable read and the unreliable narrator continually beguiles and tricks us. Humbert claims to love Lolita deeply but at the same time reveals the damage he is doing to her. The narrative is made even more intriguing by its attitude to Lolita - neither "innocent" nor "pure". Nabokov's language is superb - he revels in word play and the book is filled with literary allusions. The road trip across America is brilliantly seen through an outsider's critical eye.

I can see how Lolita has enthralled and irritated so many readers. It is in turns sad, subversive, funny and creepy.

Can I also recommend Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi which explores the book through the thoughts of young Iranian women.

One of the best books I've ever read
Without a doubt, one of the best books I've ever read. It's warm and funny and scary and confusing and (at times) an outright assault on everything polite society brought us up to expect. I liked it so much that the second I finished Lolita, I started right back at the beginning. I was excited... really excited (ok, maybe excited is a poorly chosen word in this case) about what I'd just read, still, I didn't want to hastily declare it one of my favorite novels. So I went back... read it again... re-read my notes and highlighted text, and added even more notes and highlights.

Here are a few random thoughts:
- It seems to be predominately women who love Lolita. I'm thinking this is half because women, by nature, are more likely to romanticize the situation and overlook the pedophiliac angle... and because I imagine very few men are comfortable in any way identifying with the subject matter.
- I agree 100% that Humbert loved Lolita, but I balk at some of the reviews claiming this to be the best love story ever written. Unrequited love? Sure. But reciprocal, healthy and mutual love... what are these people smoking??
- I find it fascinating that a small but vocal faction of women who loved the book feel the need to vilify Lolita for her cruelty to Humbert. It's almost as if - in order to love & approve of Humbert, Lolita must be the persecutor and not the victim. No consideration is given to the possibility that Lolita's circumstances formed her as a person.
- Nabokov is an extremely gifted writer. His long, complicated sentences unfold like exotic hothouse flowers. And kudos to him for taking no prisoners in the telling of a difficult tale. I mean, it took balls to write a story like this. He had to anticipate the backlash. Still, he didn't shy away or give his readers an easy out - a good reason to forgive Humbert. Yet they still did/do. That alone I admire beyond belief.


I honestly didn't feel that Nabokov glorified or sensationalized the subject of pedophilia. He just told a story and told it extremely well. I can appreciate it the same way I appreciate ultra-violent films or novels like A Clockwork Orange: they're all stories that remind us of the fine line between humanity and brutality.

The sexual aspect of Lolita is 100% repugnant, no denying that. And if Nabokov had soft-peddled that part one iota, I'd be pulling up a soapbox decrying the whole thing. Instead what he did was enable the reader to imagine... really imagine... what must go on in the head of a pedophile. He also shows us how these monsters can be (and often are) the school teachers, guidance counselors, Scout leaders, coaches and pastors. They're not all scary, toothless guys in trench coats offering candy to babies in parks. If nothing else, Nabokov shows us this with gusto.

Is it ugly, vulgar at times, and uncomfortable? You bet, and it should be. I'd question it if it were any other way. But it's also beautifully written and something that will stick with you long after you've finished the final page. And that's ok, too. It's possible (though extremely rare) to have both coexist in a kind of uncomfortable harmony... and, credit where it's due, Nabokov, I felt, walked that line better than just about anything else I've ever had the pleasure of reading.

A depraved work of fiction
I bought this book because it always appears in the lists of classic novels and the reviews I read spoke of the beautiful language it is written in.
I have to say I found it utterly revolting. Let's be perfectly straight about the plot. It is about a middle-aged man who lusts after young girls (a paedophile, in other words) and who preys upon one particular twelve-year-old girl, compelling her to have sex with him (often painfully so) over the course of a year.
I do not care how wonderfully Nabokov commands the English language, his subject matter is repugnant.
I would give this book no stars were it possible and urge anybody thinking of buying it to look elsewhere for a genuine classic.