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nina_mk's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Kidnapping, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
frmeden's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
it is so hard to put into words the way this novel affected me, other than we've done a great disservice to it by peddling it as a 'love story' for all these years. nabokov can say this story has no moral but the authorial intent reads very clear to me! i do almost feel like i could go back and read it again and catch new things because it kind of reads like a very overwritten horror/mystery novel, because HH is lying to you constantly and covering up his crimes with flowery prose. dolores haze you deserved better, who the fuck is "lolita" anyway!!!
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Incest, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Stalking, and Gaslighting
Moderate: Gun violence, Racial slurs, Racism, Death of parent, and Pregnancy
Minor: Child death
manicaxolotl's review against another edition
4.0
Graphic: Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexual violence, and Kidnapping
Minor: Pregnancy
aisclaradm's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
Sometimes a tad slow, but that’s more so an indictment of my attention span and less so of one on the book itself.
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Toxic relationship, Violence, Stalking, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Pregnancy
Minor: Car accident and Schizophrenia/Psychosis
krzem's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Misogyny, Pedophilia, and Sexual content
Moderate: Death, Emotional abuse, and Sexual assault
Minor: Gun violence and Pregnancy
kazli's review against another edition
- 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
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
ellisy's review against another edition
- 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
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.
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
halaagmod's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Pedophilia, Rape, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Death, Gun violence, Stalking, Death of parent, and Murder
Minor: Racism, Xenophobia, Car accident, and Pregnancy
sombies's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Graphic: Domestic abuse, Incest, Misogyny, Pedophilia, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Trafficking, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Pregnancy, and Sexual harassment
Moderate: Racism and Lesbophobia
kleinerdiktator's review against another edition
- 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
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Emotional abuse, Gun violence, Incest, Pedophilia, Death of parent, and Murder
Moderate: Death, Miscarriage, Rape, Sexual assault, Violence, Blood, Car accident, Pregnancy, and Alcohol