LOLITA

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LOLITA
EROTIC LITERATURE, TRAGICOMEDY
VLADIMIR NABOKOV
FIRST PUBLISHED: 1955

Vladimir Nabokov is probably one of the very few writers who wrote a book which is so shocking yet remains to be a favorite among the readers. Lolita, his disturbing masterpiece, revolves around the story of middle aged Humbert Humbert, and his tragic love story with his 12 year old step daughter.

What's interesting is, the entire novel has been written considering H. H 's opinions - his feelings, his thoughts, his actions, his introspection. Not once has Nabokov mentioned about what Lolita feels, what is she going through, or what she actually thinks of her relationship with her stepfather. As a consequence, we know Humbert is wrong(evil so as to say) , but we also know that he knows he is wrong(he considers himself a murderer in fact).So we actually hate him and also strangely develop a sense of pity for him (due to his childhood incident) at the end of the novel when Lolita "chooses" to leave him.

The idea of novel is taken from a real life story, but the book had been banned in many places until recently due to its "explicit" nature. What is interesting enough is that there are no such "explicit" words used in the entire novel. The idea of pedophilia and rape is disgusting and as Nabokov himself said, the book is "without a moral".

The complexity of the characters, the theme of consent and lust are the key points of this masterpiece. Concluding, I would say I hated the novel due to how much I loved it.

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