Lolita

Rating:
Summary: This book is the "On The Road" of obsessive love.
Review: Forget about all the controversy that has surrounded this book for four decades, concerning the underage love affair. I do.

Now you are free to enjoy this book for what it is; which is so much more than any mere voyeuristic romp, (but it is that,too).

First and foremost, this book is the most entertaining and thoughtful exploration of obsession and heartfelt passion that has ever been written, I think.

The main character, Humbert Humbert, has got a hopeless mad-on crush over this "underage" girl that the world won't let him rightfully fulfill. It's as simple as that!

Now, if we substitute any other circumstance for the word "underage", (married, of a different class, religion, whatever...), then suddenly the true universality of this book is revealed! We have all been there, in love with someone that the world won't let us have.

Humbert pines and writhes in agony to touch the object of his obsession, and Nabokov captures each tortured moment, in its full depth and scope; and tells the tale in a casual, everyday conversational tone that keeps it all human size. This is some of the best writing of the century here.

In the most mundane, middle american suburbia, (where most of us are probably from), Nabokov summons all the symptoms and pangs of a heavy love bug out. Who hasn't felt that way at least once in their life? But Nabokov puts it down so vividly and honestly on paper that when we read it, we recall our own similar experiences, or long to relive those intense emotions over and over again, right or wrong; and this is our literary ticket there.

This book is also the original "On The Road" adventure masterpiece, (published years before Kerouac's hobo adventure was first printed).

This travel aspect is almost as equally featured, but has seemed to have been overshadowed by all the controversy over forbidden love. When Humbert and Lolita spend the middle part of this book driving cross-country, we get the true flavor of what you! will actually find, if you travel across our great country, the U.S. of A. His descriptions of the american road life ring much truer to my experiences on the road, than the classic Kerouac road bible. I have often started to reread this book starting in Part 2, the beginning of the road adventures; just for the fun of cruising the land again.

Go read this book if you enjoy love stories, or all those beat generation hitchhike travelogues. "Lolita" truly is the epitome of the perfect love adventure as big as the country of your heart.

Rating:
Summary: Nabokov is a Genius. Lolita is a Masterpiece.
Review: One of those amazing books that makes one cry at the end. I haven't been obsessed with a book before - and now I tote Lolita around, flip through it constantly, seeking out my favourite tidbits and experiencing Nabokov's magical prose over and over.

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Summary:
Glowing reviews for Jeremy Irons's reading of Lolita
Review:
"a road trip to hell in a luxury sedan." --Salon Magazine "In his reading Irons recreates the clarity, precision, and lilt of every glorious sentence." --The Washington Post "[Irons's] efforts have placed this superb audio on my life list, to be saved for repeated listening."--Boston Globe " . . . most praiseworthy of all the audio efforts I've heard . . ."-- Men's Journal

"...a beautifully produced recording that pushes the boundaries of the audio medium. . . . hands down the best audio production of the year." -- Library Journal "an extraordinary reading, almost haunting."--The San Diego Union Tribune " . . . extrordinary - more than extrordinary." --BookPage

Rating:
Summary: Great Writing / Not So Great Plot
Review: Having heard a lot about "Lolita" before i read it i both did and didnt know what to expect. What i did expect was a perverse and explicit storyline, however although the plot was suprising (i thought it would be more wooing, less on-the-road-traveling), it is the writing that truely makes the book worth reading. However dont fall for the reviews that call it "The only convincing love story of our century."

Rating:
Summary: Wonderfully written. Wonderfully read. Too many notes...
Review: Nabokov is certainly a wonderful writer. Irons does a fantastic job reading it. However, we weren't even at mid-point when it seemed like it should be getting wrapped up. This made me rethink my opinion on abbridged copies.

It's probably better listening for short trips such as to and from the office, instead of all the way through during a long road-trip.

Rating:
Summary: nobody gets it
Review: Sure Humbert is a pervert. But Nabokov makes us forget that. For some twisted reason, we all want him to win. In doing so, Nabokov deserves to be cocky and write using words nobody knows. He is a stud.

Rating:
Summary: overwritten, overrated
Review: Writing? This is the kind of language used by an obnoxious, self-loveing bore at a dinner party. Overwritten, overrated, the very definition of 'pretentious'.

Rating:
Summary: A great novel about the feelings we dare not reveal
Review: Vladimir Nabokov, in his amazing tale of Lolita, tells the story of a quite older man and his obsession with a 12-year-old girl. No it is not perverse or pornographic, but does an admirable job in telling a potentially thorny tale and a very thorny issue in today's society. Besides a few times where Hubert does some things he shouldn't (and every reader can call him on them), poor hubert does nothing wrong. He is admiring beauty where it is apparent to those who choose to look. Some might not like his style, but overall he is ok. I actually feel for the guy. He is not a pervert by nature, he just is trying to enjoy the company of someone he dearly loves. And that shouldn't be considered unusual

Rating:
Summary: I found Nabokov's Lolita a fantastic work of fiction.
Review: I absolutely loved this book. Nabokov's writing style is so wonderful that even the intense subject matter can be stomached in order to continue the reading of this work of art. Nabokov uses language in the best way possible; he is not crude or indecent. He merelytells a love story between Humbert Humbert and the young "nymphet" Lolita. His love for her is perverse and scarey, but all people can identify with an incontrolable desire. Not all of us are pedofiles, but many have had problems with eating disorders or alcoholism. This ability to identify with a character of such perverse means confuses the reader, but in a way that keeps one interested in the erotic subject material. This is why I would recommend this book to any adult looking for some exciting and intellectually stimulating subject matter.

Rating:
Summary: Disgustingly wonderful!
Review: Humbert Humbert is a disgusting and selfish individual who betrays all sense of decency for himself, driving his own wife to his death, and forever sentencing his adopted daughter to a life of misery. But there's a little bit of Humbert Humbert in all of us, and that's the scary part. With his soul searching and long drawn out monologues we feel many of the same feelings that he feels. This is not a book about pedophilia, it's a book about selfishness. And it serves for all of us as a moral lesson about what we should not let ourselves become.