LOLITA

Author: Vladimir Nabokov

Genre: Postmodern fiction, Twisted Bildungsroman

Theme: Obsession, Homelessness, Male fantasy

Pages: 368

“Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul.”

The book is a fictitous memoir written by a middle aged man under the pseudonym ‘Humbert Humbert’, which was published after his death due to coronary thrombosis, while awaiting a murder trial in jail. This character is queer owing to the fact that he is physically attracted to specific girls aged 9 to 14,whom he refers to as ‘nymphets’. After a failed marriage with a Polish lady, Valeria, Humbert moves to Ramsdale, a small town in New England. In search of a place to live he meets Charlotte Haze, a widow who is accepting tenants. Humbert is introduced to Dolores (Lolita), Haze’s 12 year old daughter and he develops a strong obsession for the ‘nymphet’.

“She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock. She was Lola in slacks. She was Dolly at school. She was Dolores on the dotted line. But in my arms she was always Lolita.”

Charlotte falls in love with Humbert, and he marries her only for his selfish instrumental reason of being close to Lo. Following a series of events, Humbert leaves Ramsdale with Lolita and they travel across the country, driving all day and staying in motels. The second half of the story chronicles their embarkment into a life elsewhere, Humbert’s attempt to fit into the role of Dolores’s father despite his blatant perversity. Humbert is a hateful person who managed to destroy Lo’s innocence and her childhood.

“I knew I had fallen in love with Lolita forever;but I also knew she would not be forever Lolita.”

The book has a flamboyant writing style. Humbert’s disposition is one of the most interesting aspect of this novel. He is a hopeless pedophile but the use of his gift for language lures the reader to sympathize in him. Lolita, on the other hand is a haughty child. The novel rather depicts an ungracious side of her, but she he is a damaged orphan trapped in the hideous strategies of her step father, skipping temporary dwelling places with absolutely nowhere else to go. The readers get to perceive young Lo’s life, and her growing up into maturity. She doesn’t particularly have a moral growth, yet she goes on to accept her life as it is, as if being psychologically prepared for greater ruins of her already wrecked life. The ornate use of multilingual puns and anagrams, to highlight the dark humour embedded in the plot makes the book a classic example of postmodern literature. ‘Lolita’ is a taboo breaker, a masterpiece in itself.

Rating:3.9/5

---

Click on the link below to find this book on Amazon:

Subscribe to our blog to get a free ebook of 'Lolita', by providing your email id on our home page.

Happy Reading!

---