Let's talk about ... Lolita

rml_16
rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
in Chit-Chat
So, I'd wanted to read this book for years mostly because it gets talked about constantly and is a classic and all that, but I never got around to it until recently. A friend loaned me her copy and I am about two-thirds into it.

All the reviews on the cover of the book say things like, "The greatest love story of our time!"

Can someone PLEASE explain to me how anyone would read this book and come away with that conclusion?
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Replies

  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    Bumpity bump.
  • Krizzle4Rizzle
    Krizzle4Rizzle Posts: 2,704 Member
    I have not read the book but I know of it. Correct me if I am wrong, but isn't it about a older man that lusts after a 13 year old girl?
  • matti07
    matti07 Posts: 93 Member
    Yes, it is.

    I have tried to read it several times (and I read Anthony Trollope for fun), and have found it unreadable. I don't get it, either, so I'm no help whatsoever :)
  • billsica
    billsica Posts: 4,741 Member
    I think you need to go ask the fine folks over at 4chan.
  • IntoTheSky
    IntoTheSky Posts: 390 Member
    I enjoyed the book...... but, best love story of all time? Nah. Kinda creepy to me. But, hey, it's better than Ana and Christian!
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    I haven't found it unreadable. I don't think it's the greatest book (not due to subject matter, but rather writing style. It's kind of dull but moves fast enough to keep me reading.).

    Kristy -- The main character is a 40-something man who is a pedophile. He marries his landlady so that he can have access to her 12-year-old daughter. The landlady dies and he basically kidnaps the daughter. He doesn't have official custody, but he picks her up from camp and acts as "dad" while having sex with her. The first-person narrative is him speaking as though they have this love relationship, but the following things occur:

    Lolita cries every night
    She accuses him several time of raping her
    She acts up in school and the headmistress is concerned about her "sexual development"
    She tries to hord money to run away, but he finds it and takes it away from her
    She tries to get him interested in her friends so he'll leave her alone
    He keeps talking about the day she's "too old" for him and he'll have to get rid of her or marry her and get her pregnant so he can then replace her with his own daughter in his bed

    The way the author writes the book, it does not come across to me as being even meant to be read as a love story, but people keep calling it that. I'm shocked and confused, especially now that I've read most of it.
  • Krizzle4Rizzle
    Krizzle4Rizzle Posts: 2,704 Member
    I haven't found it unreadable. I don't think it's the greatest book (not due to subject matter, but rather writing style. It's kind of dull but moves fast enough to keep me reading.).

    Kristy -- The main character is a 40-something man who is a pedophile. He marries his landlady so that he can have access to her 12-year-old daughter. The landlady dies and he basically kidnaps the daughter. He doesn't have official custody, but he picks her up from camp and acts as "dad" while having sex with her. The first-person narrative is him speaking as though they have this love relationship, but the following things occur:

    Lolita cries every night
    She accuses him several time of raping her
    She acts up in school and the headmistress is concerned about her "sexual development"
    She tries to hord money to run away, but he finds it and takes it away from her
    She tries to get him interested in her friends so he'll leave her alone
    He keeps talking about the day she's "too old" for him and he'll have to get rid of her or marry her and get her pregnant so he can then replace her with his own daughter in his bed

    The way the author writes the book, it does not come across to me as being even meant to be read as a love story, but people keep calling it that. I'm shocked and confused, especially now that I've read most of it.

    That is Fing terrible.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    I haven't found it unreadable. I don't think it's the greatest book (not due to subject matter, but rather writing style. It's kind of dull but moves fast enough to keep me reading.).

    Kristy -- The main character is a 40-something man who is a pedophile. He marries his landlady so that he can have access to her 12-year-old daughter. The landlady dies and he basically kidnaps the daughter. He doesn't have official custody, but he picks her up from camp and acts as "dad" while having sex with her. The first-person narrative is him speaking as though they have this love relationship, but the following things occur:

    Lolita cries every night
    She accuses him several time of raping her
    She acts up in school and the headmistress is concerned about her "sexual development"
    She tries to hord money to run away, but he finds it and takes it away from her
    She tries to get him interested in her friends so he'll leave her alone
    He keeps talking about the day she's "too old" for him and he'll have to get rid of her or marry her and get her pregnant so he can then replace her with his own daughter in his bed

    The way the author writes the book, it does not come across to me as being even meant to be read as a love story, but people keep calling it that. I'm shocked and confused, especially now that I've read most of it.

    That is Fing terrible.
    It's pretty literary and the author seems very aware of the horrific nature of it. It's not offensive because of that. It's written from the pedophile's POV, so he talks about it like it's normal and fine, but there are all these little clues about how wrong he is. I think that part is very well-done.

    The book itself doesn't bother me. It's some people's reactions.

    I read Reading Lolita in Tehran a few months ago (fabulous book! I highly recommend it!) and her interpretation of Lolita seems very spot-on.
  • auroranflash
    auroranflash Posts: 3,569 Member
    Haven't read it, but wondering if the author is reliving his/her own abuse through the book.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    Haven't read it, but wondering if the author is reliving his/her own abuse through the book.
    I don't think so. The author is a man and the book is from the pedo's POV.

    Considering that it was written in the 1940s/1950s, it's pretty sophisticated in its portrayal of the abused character's response to the abuse, though. I'm kind of impressed with that.
  • alvalaurie
    alvalaurie Posts: 369 Member
    Sounds alot like VC Andrews books - which are mostly about incest. Can't say that I enjoyed reading those!
  • auroranflash
    auroranflash Posts: 3,569 Member
    Haven't read it, but wondering if the author is reliving his/her own abuse through the book.
    I don't think so. The author is a man and the book is from the pedo's POV.

    Considering that it was written in the 1940s/1950s, it's pretty sophisticated in its portrayal of the abused character's response to the abuse, though. I'm kind of impressed with that.

    I wonder where he got his insight then?
  • BeachGingerOnTheRocks
    BeachGingerOnTheRocks Posts: 3,927 Member
    RML, It is a fantastic book, but read it the way it should be. It is not a romance. It is fundamentally creepy and designed to creep you out.

    Nabokov once said that Humbert Humbert couldn't tell the difference between a hummingbird and a butterfly. I think that says a lot about the book.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    RML, It is a fantastic book, but read it the way it should be. It is not a romance. It is fundamentally creepy and designed to creep you out.

    Nabokov once said that Humbert Humbert couldn't tell the difference between a hummingbird and a butterfly. I think that says a lot about the book.
    I think I am reading it as intended. I'm still kind of shocked that there are people who think this is a romance.

    I'm pretty impressed with how it's written. I found an online review criticizing the book for poor character development, but I don't agree with that. It's subtle, but it's well done.

    It is definitely NOT like a VC Andrews book. Not even close.
  • BeachGingerOnTheRocks
    BeachGingerOnTheRocks Posts: 3,927 Member
    Haven't read it, but wondering if the author is reliving his/her own abuse through the book.

    No. He just wanted to shock people. He did it. He says he had no real message in the book beyond that. Of course, I think he was lying because everyone who has read it knows that there are some extreme messages in that book. The main character is not sympathetic, but the victim certainly is, particularly at the end.
  • BeachGingerOnTheRocks
    BeachGingerOnTheRocks Posts: 3,927 Member
    RML, It is a fantastic book, but read it the way it should be. It is not a romance. It is fundamentally creepy and designed to creep you out.

    Nabokov once said that Humbert Humbert couldn't tell the difference between a hummingbird and a butterfly. I think that says a lot about the book.
    I think I am reading it as intended. I'm still kind of shocked that there are people who think this is a romance.

    I'm pretty impressed with how it's written. I found an online review criticizing the book for poor character development, but I don't agree with that. It's subtle, but it's well done.

    It is definitely NOT like a VC Andrews book. Not even close.

    Agreed on all accounts.
  • PantalaNagaPampa
    PantalaNagaPampa Posts: 1,031 Member
    Just watch the cartoon adaptation... Didn't disney do a similar romance story? I think they called it Pocahontas.
  • rml_16
    rml_16 Posts: 16,414 Member
    Just watch the cartoon adaptation... Didn't disney do a similar romance story? I think they called it Pocahontas.
    lol
  • Sabine_Stroehm
    Sabine_Stroehm Posts: 19,263 Member
    Nabakov is a good writer. It's a good book. But no, it's not a romance.
  • Skinny_minny_mo
    Skinny_minny_mo Posts: 1,272 Member
    I read it. Def not a love story.

    Cant rem what i thought of it so it couldn't have been that shocking! :)
  • MrsSardone
    MrsSardone Posts: 194 Member
    I read it YEARS ago. Like early 20's. I remember enjoying it immensely. The writing style, the imagery...I don't remember feeling bad for Lolita though. Maybe I should read it again.
  • sunsnstatheart
    sunsnstatheart Posts: 2,544 Member
    The fact that critics call it a romance is hysterically clueless. Nabokov wrote it to shock people and his protagonist is insane. Its a very well written book but yea the subject matter. Its been a long time since I read it (Freshman in college) but I still get creeped out by a couple of scenes.
  • iAMsmiling
    iAMsmiling Posts: 2,394 Member
    Says a lot about the proclivities of the critics.
    I wouldn't let them babysit my kids.
  • RunsOnEspresso
    RunsOnEspresso Posts: 3,218 Member
    I have not read it yet but it has always been on my "to read list". I don't think I have ever thought, heard or read that it was a love story. That intrigues me that people would call it that because everything I know about it echos what everyone here is saying.
  • perfekta
    perfekta Posts: 331 Member
    It was a love story in his eyes I guess. I thought it was a pretty good book. Interesting to see it from a pedophile's point of view I guess.
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  • bananapancakebella
    bananapancakebella Posts: 178
    Editors and publishing companies will put just about anything on the cover to get people to read it. Lolita is a love story, just a one-sided one. One critic probably wrote a review that compared it to the greatest love story of our time and the quote was used out of context on the cover. Happens all the time in movie ads too. Review will say so and so movie is amazingly bad. The movie ad will quote the review for calling the movie "amazing."

    I love Lolita, fantastic book. Just don't judge anything by the cover. :)
  • auroranflash
    auroranflash Posts: 3,569 Member
    Editors and publishing companies will put just about anything on the cover to get people to read it. Lolita is a love story, just a one-sided one. One critic probably wrote a review that compared it to the greatest love story of our time and the quote was used out of context on the cover. Happens all the time in movie ads too. Review will say so and so movie is amazingly bad. The movie ad will quote the review for calling the movie "amazing."

    I love Lolita, fantastic book. Just don't judge anything by the cover. :)

    Maybe that's what happened with the movie 'John Carter' ... :sick:
  • morenita71
    morenita71 Posts: 137 Member
    i got it out of the library when I was about 15 or 16 cause I liked the cover- (a girl wearing heart shaped sunglasses) my dad was horrified and called it filth (had it not been a library book I think he would've ripped it to shreds) which made me want to read it more of course. At the time I didn't realise how awful the subject matter was but I re read it again and saw the film with Peter Sellers - I think I realised then how twisted and misogynistic it was. Who do you think Nabokov's audience was meant to be? I'm guessing it wasn't 15 year old girls...
  • Alex_is_Hawks
    Alex_is_Hawks Posts: 3,499 Member
    Sounds alot like VC Andrews books - which are mostly about incest. Can't say that I enjoyed reading those!

    but you read more than one? I couldn't get through the first one....that's dedication

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