I am reading Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. This novel is very controversial because it deals with child sexuality. It is not necessarily pornography, but it is one of those so-called “dirty books.” These days, the title “Lolita” is used to describe seductive young girls, but “Lolita” is actually a nickname for Dolores Haze, one of the main characters. This is a hard book because the author utilizes figures of speech a lot. I am not sure if I understand the story. Here is what I have read so far.
This novel is narrated by Humbert. Humbert is born in Paris. He later moves to the United States. There, he rents a room from a widow named Charlotte Haze. He is attracted to her twelve-year-old daughter, Dolores Haze. (Humbert is obsessed with young girls and he refers to those attractive young girls as “nymphets.” I assume that the word “nymphet” is derived from “nymphomania” or “nympholepsy.”) Dolores reminds Humbert of Annabel, the love of his life. (Annabel dies of typhus and Humbert lives very miserable life until he meets Dolores.) Charlotte, Dolores’ mother is interested in Humbert, but he is interested in Dolores. Charlotte asks Humbert to marry her and Humbert agrees to marry her on purpose to make Dolores his stepdaughter. Somehow Charlotte finds out about Humbert’s plan and decides to leave him…
I was really looking forward to reading this novel because of its controversial subject, but this novel was nothing like I imagined it would be. I like how the narrator tells the story. It is like reading someone’s diary. Some parts are hard to understand, but this novel is very interesting.
This novel is not suitable for underage…
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3 comments:
hi chris!! this sounds like a very interesting book, not because its a "dirty book", but because it is interesting to read about how the narrator would do anything to get to the girl he wants. i am very interested in stories like this one and i am even more interested to read about what else goes on in this book. i cant wait to get my hands on this book(and trust me, i dont say that often lol):)!
Well when Ms. Fletcher first spoke about Lolita I was hesitant because of the way it was described to me, it didn't seem like a book that I would enjoy much but after reading the review i feel like I should give it a try because of its interesting plot. Now I realize that I should look into books even though they don't sound very appealing at first.
My bookclub is going to read this pretty soon...some of the women in my bookclub don't want to read it...one doesn't because she doesn't approve of the subject, and another because it's supposed to be a difficult read. I'll let you know how it goes.
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