Book Review
Title: Lolita
Author: Vladimir Nabokov
Genre: Classic
Rating: *****
Review: The first time I read Lolita it took me a while to get through it so I didn’t take in the story as much as I wanted to as I was at times overwhelmed by my emotions. Going back into it a second time I am aware of what happens and can focus on the smaller details a lot better. The forward which is fictional gives away hints to the ending of the novel which is already pulling at my heart strings before we’ve even began. Learning about Humbert’s childhood and his first foray into romance which was horribly interrupted makes his actions later on that much more understandable and we also learn of his heart condition and temper which also play a large role later on in the novel, specifically the climax of the novel.
By the time Humbert meets Lolita for the first time we have a good sense of who he is and know that he is only attracted to young girls specifically between the ages of 9 and 14 although Lolita is 12 going on 13 when he first meets her, so we are aware even if he falls in love with her, he won’t be sexually attracted to her for long as she will surpass the age he finds attractive in just under 2 years. We can also see from the moment Charlotte meets Humbert she is attracted to him and this attraction directly gives him the circumstance he needs to get close to Lolita and develop a relationship with her but surprisingly he isn’t the one who takes her virginity. By the time this pair comes to develop a sexual relationship she is already aware of what sex is and the consequences of having sex with someone so much older than he like Humbert. We must also remember that Humbert isn’t the only older man Lolita has a relationship with and that Humbert isn’t in prison for what he did to Lolita but rather he is in prison for murdering the man who stole his Lolita from him, although if he had lived he would have been punished for those crimes too. Despite this I am of the opinion that the relationship Lolita and Humbert enter into isn’t a crime despite her being underage as she was a fully consenting party to most of the relationship and when she wasn’t, she left him for another man but she always stayed on very good terms with him right up until the end. Getting to know these characters all over again was divine and I am going to divide opinion her by saying that I like Humbert and he was a very admirable character and for quite a bit of the novel shows an enormous amount of restraint and his charm, wit and intellect mean you instantly like him and grow to love him over the course of the novel.
The journey Humbert takes before he meets Lolita is interesting but we find ourselves as disinterested as he is with his life but it was interesting to learn that he had been sent to a sanitorium several times indicating that there is some form of mental illness that he is dealing with. When chance has him lodging with the Haze family, it is clear to see Charlotte has her eyes on him although he only has eyes for her daughter and walks a very fine line but we do see the pair developing a bond through their mutual dislike of her mother. When the first sexual encounter takes place between them, in Humbert’s eyes he hasn’t violated the child as she remains pure but we get the sense from Lolita’s reactions that she is aware of what has taken place although doesn’t speak of it to anyone least of all her mother. When her mother announces that Lolita is going to spend the summer away at camp, Humbert is devastated and begins making plans to leave for the summer and return when Lolita does, however, at this moment he is unaware of Charlotte’s plan to ship her daughter off to a boarding school as soon as the summer is over. We also get a scene where Lolita kisses Humbert showing that she seems to be an active participant in the relationship, however, Nabokov himself has stated that Humbert can imagine events or recall them differently to how they happened but I believe that this kiss did take place and it was initiated by Lolita but she still remains very naïve and innocent. After receiving a letter from Charlotte confessing her love for him, he is swift to marry her as he sees this as an opportunity to get closer to Lolita. While she is away at camp, they build a more domestic home and Humbert begins manipulating Charlotte gently into the meek, mild-mannered woman who when pressed may turn a blind eye to his affections towards her daughter but he greatly underestimates her which he finds out later on.
As we cross the ¼ mark in the novel, after only 8 weeks of marriage, Charlotte happens to find Humbert’s diary where he has detailed many thing about Charlotte and his desires for Lolita. In her anger she wants him to leave but he knows if he does that he will never see Lolita again, however, she leaves at some point and gets hit by a car and dies. Humbert at first doesn’t believe this but when faced with the grizzly scene, he realised that he is free now of the only person barring him from his beloved Lolita. After Charlotte’s death, Humbert goes to collect Lolita from camp but doesn’t tell of her mother’s demise but rather she is in hospital waiting for an operation while they go on trip to “visit” her. Along the way they stay in the Enchanted Hunters hotel where we see Humbert finally giving into some of his desires although he still wishes for Lolita to be drugged or unconscious during the act so he can tell himself that she hasn’t defiled herself. However, Lolita herself seems much more mature after returning from camp even teasing and flirting with Humbert and he turns into quite nervous, boarding on shy during these moments.
As we approach the second half of the novel, Lolita and Humbert becomes lovers and I have no doubt after reading this book several times and deconstructing it for an analytical essay that Lolita did instigate this encounter. Not out of desire or lust but rather a seemingly morbid childish curiosity that Humbert gave into and like many during their first sexual encounter with the opposite sex, Lolita isn’t prepared for the physical repercussions. While she jests with Humbert she does seem sullen and down and that day she wants to speak to her mother where Humbert quite coldly tells her that her mother is dead. That night when she comes to him in tears because she has no one else to go to, he does take advantage of that where he should have been comforting the heartbroken child. I say Lolita is heartbroken because even though she and Charlotte didn’t get on, she was still her mother and that bond can’t be broken but he takes advantage of this weakness to fulfil his desires. As their road trip continues for the better part of a year, the pair grow discontent towards one another, Humbert while frequently indulging himself in his child lover turns a blind eye to her boredom, her pain and above all her depression that is creeping in more and more with every passing day, while Lolita continue to please Humbert but often cries herself to sleep most night, whether this is because of her lover, her situation or the fact she is grieving for her mother isn’t known but the fact he ignores this is abhorrent. However, it isn’t long before Humbert decides it is best for them to set down some roots before people begin asking question and Humbert decides the town of Beardsley is best for them but Lolita disagrees although living her will allow her to set in motions the chain of events that will eventually lead to her liberation.
I am not going to talk much about the final section of Lolita as it completely destroyed just like last time. If you want my in-depth thoughts on that I’ll link my previous review of Lolita there. It is fair to say I loved this reading a lot more than the first and it definitely earned it’s 5 star rating and I’d recommend it to everyone who hasn’t read it. For those of you that read Lolita and either didn’t finish it or didn’t enjoy it, definitely give it a second chance, after the shock factor is out of the way it’s a brilliant read.
Buy it here:
Paperback/Hardcover: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Kindle Edition: amazon.co.uk amazon.com
Also see: Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
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