Book Review - Lolita

LolitaLolita by Vladimir Nabokov
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

I've been putting off reading this book for ages and I kind of understand why. It is incredibly well written to the point of being seriously disturbing. The mind boggles at how well Nabokov envisioned Humbert Humbert's thoughts and feelings about Lolita. It's creepy as hell, even when one knows the storyline and lives in the modern world.

However, it worries me that the book doesn't try and include any commentary on how wrong the protagonist's actions are. He goes through life unscathed (as much as any human would), but doesn't get his comeuppance. He's not taken to task for his actions, even though at several points he chastises himself for these feelings.

I have always had a problem with art presenting reality as it is but not commenting on the same. If that was the only point of art or writing then we'd all be geniuses, heralded as the next Hemingway or Picasso. That's not the point. It has to bring into sharp focus what is right and what is wrong and why. No need to paint everything black and white, but a protagonist like Humbert Humbert must be held accountable at some point by someone, even if it is by the author through plot and twists in the story. But throughout the book I felt like the author was far too forgiving of his creation, as if Humbert was also a victim not a victimiser.

Also, because the story is from the singular viewpoint of Humbert's the other characters fail to blossom. Lolita never progresses beyond the fantasy of Humbert's imagination - she has virtually no personality or growth. She's a quintessential teenaged girl, and an unfortunate prototype for female characters for years to come. Strange how writers (especially screenwriters) decided to use a lascivious older pederast as the ideal role model for their male characters and a nubile, personality-less child for the women. Can't blame Nabokov for that one though.

One can hardly like or enjoy this book. But one can revel in the psychological analyses the book provides.

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