Reviews with content warning for Sexism - Lolita

This book needs to be understood better by our generation, the author wrote this book so that we could easily identify people like Humbert. It is sad that a lot of people took this as a love story, it is not a love story in the slightest. This book is a psychological thriller that you find yourself interested in due to the narrator not being reliable, Humbert will contradict himself throughout the book, and you catch yourself being manipulated by Humbert as you are reading the book, the ability to write like that is incredibly impressive. Humbert is such a horrible character, the fact that you can find him trying to manipulate you after telling you all the disgusting things he did is a strange and scary feeling. This book shows you how easy it is for these people to get away with things like this, and shows how to spot them without even specifically saying it. The way the character of Dolores changes so quickly and abruptly makes it so we the readers, are unable to tell whether she changes due to puberty, age, her realizing she is being abused, Humbert being an unreliable narrator, or a mix of them. Having the readers question the authenticity and truthfulness of a fictional story is a rare thing to do. There are so many hidden messages and double innuendos in the way Humbert writes, that having the annotations helps you truly appreciate the amount of dedication that was put into this book.

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vulpexula's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad slow-paced

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

4.0

A very challenging, yet important read. I wouldn’t recommend to younger readers or people who are triggered by abuse, as there is absolutely no subtlety in how the subjects are handled.

Nabokov use of rhyme and word play is what hooked me in from the beginning. I think the biggest tragedy of Lolita is our culture’s reaction to it. Instead of a vulnerable victim, the name ‘Lolita’ often brings the idea of a seductive, provocative girl to people’s heads, which is, I believe, exactly what evil people like Humbert want. If society can continue to sexualise young girls, abuse can continue to slip under the radar.

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lobotomygf's review against another edition

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challenging dark tense medium-paced

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

5.0

lolita is kind of like the most effective work of literary horror because its villain is so manipulative and obsessed with self victimization that his little “memoir” has fascinatingly transcended the text and succeeded in giving thousands of women stockholm syndrome

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theplaguedoctorreads's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-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

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joppen's review against another edition

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challenging dark sad 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

3.5

Read this (very slowly) after listening to Jamie Loftus’ incredible Lolita Podcast, which goes into depth about how this book has been dangerously misinterpreted and adapted.

Reading it for myself, I can’t for the life of me see how anyone could read this and interpret it as a love story. When I got the book I was shocked to see the insert sleeve, calling it “a love story almost shocking in its beauty and tenderness,” and a blurb on the back from says it’s the “only convincing love story of our century.” It’s not. It’s literally about a pedophile abducting and r*ping a 12-year old girl for years. The book is literally never ambiguous about that.

Horrible, despicable, unbelievable misinterpretations aside, this book is beautifully written and deeply harrowing. Nabakov’s prose is incredible especially because English isn’t even his first language?? The writing especially lends itself to the book’s unreliable narrator theme when Humbert is describing these horrible acts he commits, while simultaneously trying to construct poems and witticisms to appease the reader. It only adds to his despicable he is (to anyone with any sense of reading comprehension.)

Overall a very hard read but I’m glad I got through it. Gonna listen to the podcast again.

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alekatja's review against another edition

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challenging dark 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

3.25

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venusenvy's review against another edition

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challenging dark fast-paced

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womanvthevoid's review against another edition

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challenging dark slow-paced

Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

first half was incredible, then I lost interest for nearly all of the second half, with only a few moments that perked me back up. Obviously a very dark and complex storyline, the character development of HH was fascinating while simultaneously renewing and grotesque. Very gross themes; the reader oscillates between understanding and disgust.

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