Lolita By Vladimir Nabokov

 

Lolita

By Vladimir Nabokov

 Lolita is about Humbert Humbert's obsession and descent into a mad love for a twelve-year-old girl. Lolita (Dolores Haze) lived with her mother when Humbert rented a room in their home where he met the girl and his obsession began. He married Dolores's mother Charlotte in order to be close to her, then hatched a plan to dispatch Charlotte in order to have sole possession of Dolores. He takes her across the country, living in cheap motels, and takes away Dolores's innocence and her childhood through his depraved acts.

Humbert believes he is in love with her. All the while Dolores is planning her escape from him, which she eventually succeeds in doing, leading Humbert to track her for years with the full intention of killing the man who took her away from him.

This book is extremely beautifully written. The prose is excellent and elegant, and not at all lewd despite its subject matter. The narrator is fully aware of his perversion and the fact that he is a criminal and a creep. His inner dialogue is considered witty by most, but it wasn't very funny to me. That didn't take away from my enjoyment of the reading experience. It is easily a 4-star book, though I feel like I missed out on something, considering how much praise the book gets for its humor. Maybe it was lost on me because of the poetic and often theatrical prose style.