Reviews tagging 'Physical abuse'

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

64 reviews

_christinadevin's review against another edition

challenging dark sad slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

Wtf, I mean writing-wise, Nabokov is genius, but the story is so much to take and it’s really heavy at times. I think that this is a slightly dangerous story for most people to read, because I’ve seen so many young girls identifying with Lolita and so many men who don’t actually see how abusive Humbert is. He may be unreliable narrator but he definitely mentions her crying to sleep and the fact that she ran away because he ruined her life but I can’t give critical thinking skills to everyone. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Domestic abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment

kazli's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

god this book was heartbreaking. it follows a man named humbert humbert who falls in love with his step daughter, and you know it's wrong but because humbert is an unreliable narrator he makes you believe that he is actually in love with his 'lolita' when in reality she is just a child who wanted a normal life and a normal family.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Infidelity, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, and Sexual harassment

jalyhn's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I give this a high rating because it is written beautifully and an amazing book to annotate and analyze. I had so much fun picking apart everything Humbert did to find out what was >SPOILER<

an illusion or something he made up and what is real.  

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Confinement, Domestic abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Car accident, Death of parent, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , and Gaslighting

Moderate: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Death, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Toxic relationship, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting

Minor: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Drug abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting

g1lg4mesh's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

I find myself in a pickle of sorts in reviewing this book- I cannot in good faith blindly recommend it, and yet it is simultaneously the most incredible text I have ever engaged with. Lolita simply redefines the standard of the masterpiece, building not a glass ceiling (such tangibilities are beneath it), rather, casting the colloquial “bar” to the very heavens, where it may never be seen again. Only read this book if you are prepared to finish it- know too that this is no simple matter- but read this book, if you may be so bold. It will challenge you, and you may want to hurl it into a fire at times, but still, you simply must make it to that final page. This is a book that redefines the 5th star, and shakes any attempt at literary tier lists to its very core.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Alcoholism, Body shaming, Child abuse, Confinement, Death, Drug abuse, Drug use, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racial slurs, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Violence, Kidnapping, Stalking, Car accident, Death of parent, Murder, Gaslighting, Alcohol, Sexual harassment, and Injury/Injury detail

caarlotta's review against another edition

challenging dark sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

so difficult to read yet one of my favorite books ever. THE WRITING is gorgeous, nabokov is truly a master writer, and the story is disturbing yet you need to finish the book

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Toxic relationship

Moderate: Death of parent

ellisy's review against another edition

dark sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Lolita, that highly controversial novel that set a before and after not only in American literature, but in modern culture as a whole. That love letter to monstrous indulgence, the attempt of a psychopath to redeem his soul and make his and his victim's lives one inmortal story. As he said "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".

Maybe one of the most remarcable things about this story is the way it's told. We are warned at the beginning of what this text really is: a confession and desperate attempt of a criminal to save himself. One that "should make all of us apply ourselves with still greater vigilance and vision to the task of bringing up a better generation in a safer world". Its narrator, a pedophile that both tries to trick you into beeling his side of the story and recognizes what he's done, one you cannot fully believe since he himself said that "I have camouflaged what I could so as not to hurt people". Which he does in the most poetical kind of way, almost convincing you for some bits until you get to the most sordid parts and comments, that reminds you of what he really is.

Something really interesting about him is the juxtaposition between the romantic and the monster, between "concupiscent co-operation (or the illusion of it) to dirty old man, from romance to self-revolution, from reciprocation to the sordid solipsism of sperm on the hand. Nabokov's subject and Humbert's affliction is the discrepancy between the dizzy desire and the dingy thruth". As Humbert said "Despite the horrible hopelessness of it all, I still dwelled deep in my elected paradise—a paradise whose skies were the color of hell-flames—bit still a paradise". And as well recognized later on, "I loved you. I was a pentapod monster, but I loved you. I was despicable and brutal, and turpid, and everything, mais je t'aimais, je t'aimais! And there were times when I knew how you felt, and it was hell to know it, my little one. Lolita girl, brave Dolly Schiller". He knew that he was hurting her, but he kept on, he knew that he was monstrous, but he kept on, and this would have never ended, if Dolores wouldn't have scaped. 

Maybe that's why that's one of the most heartbreaking parts of the story. The criminal knew how sordidly he had ruined Dolores's live, but he kept on, telling himself that he loved her. He used this little child until she bled, he knew she hated him, and still tried to make himself and us believe that he was the misunderstood poet, the victim somehow. But still he doesn't lay flat, he is not just "the bad guy" he's a monster, but he has dimensions, a story to tell after and before, some humanness in him that still makes us feel sorry somehow, even if after we still feel sick of what he's done. 

Lolita is a terrifying story, in which not only a child was kidnapped but failed by the system that was supposed to protect her, by the people around them who had to have suspission that something was off, and even by the legacy it left, since Lolita became both a sexual figure and a "romance" story, with people commenting on the novel as "a record of Nabokov's love affair with the romantic novel". For me, it's the confession of a monstrous passion from the point of view of the aggressor, one that's written trying to cover what happened and you still see through the lies, one with multidimensional characters and story that fills you with rage, disgust and helplessness, and a narrative that tries to trick you. And for that, it's a masterpiece of the English language, a gem that's hard to look at, but you still should, a classic of American literature.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Child death, Death, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Murder, and Pregnancy

bycath's review against another edition

adventurous challenging dark informative mysterious sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Racism, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Violence, Death of parent, Murder, Pregnancy, Gaslighting, Abandonment, Sexual harassment, and Classism

k0i's review against another edition

Heavy trigger warnings to watch out for. It is definitely a controversial book yet it also feels slow. I wouldn’t quite say one-dimensional, but the focus of the storyline is definitely unreliable. But once again, I didn’t finish this story so please don’t put complete faith in me. Read it if you want, at your own discretion of course. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Death, Emotional abuse, Infidelity, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, and Gaslighting

beepbuggy's review against another edition

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

the book is sick and so is the main character but the writing and prose is so amazing it makes the reader think he might be normal but then you think about it and you know he isnt 😭😭 it’s actually so good tho

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual content, Toxic relationship, Stalking, Death of parent, Murder, and Gaslighting

castawaycove's review against another edition

challenging dark

• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.5

i just really didn’t like this. it made  me super uncomfortable which was expected but i also just didn’t really like the writing? i don’t understand how this is called a comedy when nothing about it was funny. maybe there was like one or two lines that were quite humorous but like nothing else about this book was comedic. i’m genuinely confused as to how people reviewing it are saying that the writing made them like H.H. when he had zero redeeming qualities and doesn’t even try to hide how awful he is, he straight up tells you multiple times that he’s a pervert. i just don’t get it tbh

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Physical abuse, Rape, and Sexual harassment