Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul.
Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta.
After saying I will read this book for years, I have finally read Lolita! Not just any version, but the “Revised and Updated” annotated version!
It’s a little scary. The annotations and the lengthy introduction, when combined, are roughly equal in length to the actual story portion of the book.
I confess, I skipped the majority of the introduction (which I will read later), and I tried to read the notes, but they were not intended for a first time reader, as they contain spoilers! BOO!
I am going to tell you something very strange it was she who seduced me.
Lolita is perhaps Nabokov’s most famous book. Written first in English, and only later translated into Russian, Lolita is one of the most controversial novels of the 20th century.
Humbert Humbert, otherwise known as H. H., is our protagonist and narrator. He is in his late 30’s and fanatically, no, insanely obsessed with 12-year-old Lolita. Telling his story from prison, H. H. tries to convince the dear reader of, I suppose, his innocence in the whole affair. His denial of culpability is hard to swallow, and at times I wondered if there were any characters in this novel that Nabokov actually wants the reader to like.
H. H. claims that his “sickness” was caused, at least in part, by an unfilled childhood romance with a girl named Annabel. True or not, this does not absolve him of his crimes against Lolita.
A desperate honesty that throbs through his confession does not absolve him from sins of diabolical cunning. He is abnormal. His is not a gentleman.
Nabokov has woven a myriad of cultural and literary references throughout the novel. This is the reason for the lengthy annotations. To be honest, most of these references I did not understand or catch, and even through reading the annotations (partly, at least), I’m not sure I fully understood all of them. The annotator feels strongly that the reader need be aware of these to fully appreciate the novel, but I strongly disagree.
I can see why this novel was, and still is, very controversially. However, I did enjoy it, despite the fact that I found almost all the characters completely despicable, including our dear Lolita.
Immediately after finishing the book, I watched Stanley Kubrick’s version of Lolita, which was released in 1962. It changes the order of some revelations in the novel, cuts out all the backstory for Humbert Humbert, yet uses a lot of the dialogue word for word. All in all, it was good, but I felt it did not entirely tell the same story.
Reading the novel, I felt that H. H. was a terrible person, afflicted with a horrible penchant for young girls. In the movie, he comes across more as a man in love with one particular girl, which somehow is less disgusting. The movie also makes Lolita more likable, making her more attractive while downplaying her culpability and personality traits that made the relationship with H. H. possible.
I’m happy to have finally read this, but it wasn’t entirely enjoyable, given the subject matter. I suppose that may have been Nabokov’s intention.
Oh, my Lolita, I have only words to play with!
3 out of 5 stars.
The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway