Lolita - Vladmir Nabokov

Valmont

I finally got around to reading this book and I was wondering what people thought about it. The first thing that caught my attention was that English was Nabokov's second language! I thought the descriptions and insights he expressed were original and sometimes funny especially when he described something (vague, I know) as "like a gynaecologist groping at a tumour".

Despite the protagonists hilarity at times I found myself shocked at his lack of conscience but I found the last few pages really made the story complete and quite memorable and very sad really. An enjoyable read, did anyone else enjoy it? Are any of his other novels worth reading?

Hrududu

I read this a couple of years ago and couldnt get over how beautiful the language was, especially considering it was his second language. The one thing that stuck with me was that at times you caught yourself realising you liked the protagonist. The wit with which he described everything. Then you would be creeped out for thinking that way. Which I think was the idea. Great book. Must re-read it again soon.

lsedov

This is one of my favourite books. Nabokov is excellent, and his level of English was far above merely "as a second language", if you know what I mean.

Interestingly enough, Nabokov wrote Lolita while lecturing at Cornell University, where he influenced students Richard Fariña and Thomas Pynchon...

Dades

Read it several times when I was in college. Fantastic. Must dig it out.

In my chess sessions with Gaston I saw the board as a square pool of limpid water with rare shells and stratagems rosily visible upon the smooth tessellated bottom, which to my confused adversary was all ooze and squid-cloud.

Valmont

Hrududu wrote:

The one thing that stuck with me was that at times you caught yourself realising you liked the protagonist. The wit with which he described everything. Then you would be creeped out for thinking that way. Which I think was the idea. Great book. Must re-read it again soon.

I think that's why it leaves a lasting impression when you read it. You can't help feeling slightly endeared toward Humbert despite his hideous nature. Then every now and then you will remember 'oh crap, he's a pervert, I should stop laughing!'

luckat

Valmont wrote:

Despite the protagonists hilarity at times I found myself shocked at his lack of conscience

The protagonist, yes; the writer, no.

For me, the pivotal scene in Lolita is the one where the little girl brings in a friend to play, and the child's father and Lolita's kidnapper sit chatting - then the other little girl goes and sits up on her daddy's knee, and Humbert sees the light go out of Lolita's eyes - obviously she thinks that every child must suffer the same abuse.

It's an extraordinary book.

Valmont

I meant humbert.

That was definitely a pivotal scene, I found it was the first stark glimpse of the damage the ordeal had on lolita. I loved the last line of the book, I like the way it represented the complex nature of his love for lolita, a multi- dimensional nature not limited to the physical

I am thinking of aurochs and angels, the secret of durable pigments, prophetic sonnets, the refuge of art. And this is the only immortality you and I may share, my Lolita

the more I talk about it the more I like this book:D

luckat

Ah, but now you're using the L word, Valmont. Is an obsession that destroys its object 'love'?