Lolita

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Summary: Lolita,my baby
Review: I like this film very much.It's the most erotical film i saw in my live.Really!

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Summary: A difficult book to be enjoyed and reviled on many levels
Review: I have read "Lolita" twice and have seen both film versions of the story. The first time I read "Lolita" , I was caught up in the ironic spirit of Nabokov's writing and was humored by the caricature of Humbert Humbert. Essentially, I was fascinated by the contrast of the stogy European and the tacky American cultural and geological landscape.

For some reason, the second time I read the book I was much more attuned to the plight of the young girl, Lolita. I saw her less as a plot device and more as a character in her own right. And of course the moment I viewed her in this context, I really came to see how horribly she suffered at the hands of a powerful, sex-crazed fiend. Nabokov being Nabokov, my moments of realization were subtle. For example, during the terrible bedroom scene in which Humbert informs Lolita that her mother can not come to her rescue because she is dead, Lolita storms away in grief and despair. But eventually she returns to Humbert's bed and Humbert informs us that "you see, she had no place else to go." What chilling words. During the second reading they froze me in my seat. How many kidnappers and child molesters have thrived on such a revelation?

Humbert is part European caricature, part monster, and yet he has many touches of a real human being. At one point he observes Lolita to her friend and inquiring about one of life's mysteries. After hearing her question, Humbert realizes far from merely being his "nymphette" and object of his desires, Lolita is a real human being with her own thoughts and feelings. It is a sad and fascinating revelation for Humbert, who of course fails to act on it in a salutary fashion.

Whether we like it or not, "Lolita" is a love story albeit not a very wholesome one. Humbert says he loves Lolita, and certainly devotes his life to her in more ways than your average middle class husband. But in many ways, Humbert's behavior resembles a compulsive sexual addiction more than love. It is Humbert's recounting of events more than his behavior that makes this a love story.

People have speculated about possible relationship between the doomed protagonist and his creator. Certainly some of the events in "Lolita" are drawn from real life. The story of Humbert's first love, Anabell closely parallels Nabokov's description in "Speak Memory" of a girl he met during a youthful trip to the South of France. Although writers frequently cull material from real life experiences, there is no evidence that Humbert resembles Nabokov in any fashion.

Critics have also attempted to read "Lolita" on a metaphorical level by claiming that it is really a book about the author's love affair with America. Somehow I just don't buy it. For one thing, the description and characterization of the American people and landscape is hardly flattering in "Lolita". And though, I may be wrong, I believe Nabokov's strentgh lies in his literal conveyance of mood, character, and the immediate surroundings, not in symbolic writing.

It is ironic that Nabokov detested Freudian psychoanalytic theory and yet was a gifted psychologist himself. You can not read "Lolita" without being impressed by Nabokov's lucid and accurate characterization of people. With the possible exception of Quilty, his characters are extremely realistic. This is particularly disturbing in Humbert's case because the reader experiences him on two levels. On the one hand, Humbert is the pervert and child molester that most people fear and detest. On the other hand, his mania and craving probably strike a chord in most of us.

Nabokov's use of language is fluid and complex. In the opening narrative, Humbert introduces himself to the reader in a convluted, verbose fashion. But before we can get use to his endless sentences, and limitless vocabulary, Humbert stops himself by saying, "can you stand my style?". Nabokov is telling us, "look, this guy is such a caracature that even HE knows it." In fact, Nabokov reveals the many facets of Humbert's character (maniac, pervert, jilted lover, etc) through dialog, description, and poetry. It is a very complex task that would fail in the hands of a less able writer. Nabokov accomplishes it with amazing ease.

Speaking briefly of the two Lolita films, I loved the earlier version with Peter Sellers and James Mason and found the later one with Jeremy Irons extremely disturbing. The early film version, like my first reading of Lolita captures the superfluous and futile quality of Humbert's character. It also downplays the sexual aspect of the story completely. The latter film version, like my second reading of the book focuses almost exclusively on the criminal and horrible aspects of the story. In many ways, the film is well done, but is also a gratuitous interpretation.

Although in many ways I don't like "Lolita" and certainly don't think it is one of Nabokov's best works, I highly recommend it. Nobokov's prose and particularly his dialogs are superb. The characterization, irony and psychology of the book are probably among the best ever written.

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Summary: A Beautiful Brute of a 20th Century American Novel
Review: Lolita is a (theoretically) autobiographical novel of the clash of an old world charm giving away to new world brutality and sensuality. Humbert Humbert, who is the narrator, is man of letters, lost in the American teen idol world of a little girl. He then is seduced by the great expanses of the American road. The American highway allows Humbert to be lost in his fantasy, running away from reality, running away from the shadowy Victorian dark sports car. Lolita is a classic not for the shallow, but for the thoughtful reader. It's subject matter of mad love for lost innoscence and time, is classic and also contemporary. It is a road novel that travels the depths of this brutal country and comes back to us as we travel full speed ahead to a youth oriented culture. Our love for lost innoscence and youth is Humbert's love, and no less authentic. If you enjoy beautiful prose, Lolita will satisfy. Its combination of perverse subject matter with an overly decorated prose is wonderfully seductive and ingenius. This combination mirrors how the character, Humbert, is lost to his fantasy as we are lost in pure pleasure as we read this dirty little novel. It's simply a must read.

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Summary: Go show, old chap!
Review: Mmmmm, mmmmm, mmmm! Whenever I see my 12-year-old neighbor, I can't thank Nabakov enough for expressing what I feel in my heart! God bless him!

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Summary: Better than the Movie
Review: Lolita was a gift that I was reluctant to read because of its subject matter. Alas, I must admit, that it was perhaps one of the best written books I have ever read. Delighted by Nabokov's writing, I rented the video - which sadly paled by comparison. For a palatable introduction into the life (fiction or not) of a pedafile, read Lolita.

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Summary: Not As Advertised
Review: I was drawn to "Lolita" by its placement as the number four English language novel of the 20th century by the Modern Library. I was duped into believing that this was a story about a true love affair between an older man and a very young girl. However, what I found was more a treatment of the ways in which we can delude ourselves into believing that every action we undertake in the name of love, God, country, or some other high minded ideal is automatically sanctified because we invoke these causes. We never stop to think of what these actions are doing not only to the people around us, but also to ourselves. Nabokov has succeeded in creating a man who embodies all the destructive impulses that reside in each of us. Most times we are the last ones to realize that the path we are on is leading in the wrong direction. Throughout his travels Humbert Humbert is unable to see what he is doing to Lolita and to himself. It is a painful journey that Nabokov has set his reader on, but it is one that everyone should undertake.

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Summary: If You Didn't Love it You Need Help
Review: The genius of LOLITA is the perfection of the "unreliablenarrator". The astute reader gets great pleasure out of thesubtle but crucial differences between the narrator, deftly derangedHumbert Humbert, and the author, moral but not preachy VladimirNabokov....

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Summary: Beautiful
Review: Despite the contents of the novel, I found the book to be sheer poetry and utterly beautiful. Just reading H.H. describe Lolita's name in the very beginning, I was instantly drawn in. And eventhough Humbert Humbert is truly a sad excuse for a person, you can't help but sympathize with him. This love/worship/obsession he has for this young girl possesses an eerie beauty. And towards the end of the novel, when H.H. finally finds Lo and says that no matter what happens to her, no matter how bad, he will always love her and she will always be his...."his Lolita." All in all, this was a trluy amazing piece of literature and only recommend it to those mature enough to appreciate it.

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Summary: A delicious read
Review: Oh, what a book! Of course, it's naughty and perverse, but it's also one of the funniest, most enjoyable books ever written. The language itself is so tantalizingly wonderful, it's practically the "subject" of the book. It's got to be one of the best, if not the greatest, sustained satire ever written. Those scenes of 1950s Americana kitsch are laser-beam perfection! And if you happened to live through (endure rather) the 1950s, as I did, the book is even more wonderful. Of course, Nabokov could write pages on a full ash tray or a hangnail and it would be wonderful reading. Please check out his King, Queen, Knave, which is pure, vivid, hilarious black humor at its ultimate. Also, The Defense is tops. And don't, whatever you do, miss PALE FIRE! That's on the top of my re-reading list now. I'm salivating at the thought of reading that one again (it's been 25 years since I last read it). I hadn't read any Nabokov in some years until I picked up King, Queen, Knave last fall. And now, I'm am a greedy Nabokov fanatic all over again. Oh, for joy!

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Summary: Mature Audiences only
Review: Anyone can read this book. However, only the mature reader will truly appreciate it. This book cries to be read between the lines. Humbert is not simply a disgusting pedophile, he is a very troubled man. He does not seem to love Lolita as much, but to worship and adore her instead. I was somewhat uncomfortable reading this story but I believe it to be beautifully written. It is largly poetic and satisfying at the end. Humbert cares so much for Lolita it is almost possible at times to overlook the altereal motives in his actions.