Lolita [Hardcover]

Lolita is in many ways an extraordinary book. Not only in its choice of subject matter which is perhaps more controversial today then it was in the 1950s but also in the style of writing. It is perhaps the best written book that I have ever read. Nabokov's writing style has a richness that is even more remarkable given that it is not his native tongue. The expert use of allusion, extended metaphor and generously evocative imagery makes this a book to savour slowly and one that is closer at times to poetry than prose.

But what a poem. Humbert Humbert is perhaps the very model of the antihero but as he is also the narrator everything is seen through the prism of his own monstrous and predatory lusts. Lolita herself, as Humbert admits, remains something of an enigma throughout. The narrator is unable to see her as an individual and she is portrayed as the archetypal 'nymphet,' who serves merely to serve his own needs. Any deviation from this role is regarded as betrayal. But then the book is entitled Lolita not Delores Hayes and 'Lolita' is no more than the perfect nymphet lurking inside Humbert's diseased brain never a girl of blood and flesh.

Humbert does not in fact offer much in the way of self justification beyond the occasional admission of insanity and his sickening claims to truly love the girl. He also seems to grow in awareness of his perversion as the novel goes on but never seems to regret it. He starts by offering various justifications of child brides from history but his final allusion is to Sade's Justine which is surely an admission of guilt. But the prose is so tender and so darkly comic that all this is repeatedly obscured and Nabokov manages to win you a twisted sympathy for his protagonist even, almost, for his predicament. So much of it seems so reasonable the way Humbert tells it.

This is largely because the way the feelings and desires of little Delores herself are so obscured by Humbert's dark longings. This of course serves to make it all the more poignant on the odd occasion that they do surface. When Humbert is in his first rapture of paradise after possessing young Lolita he describes his joy to search an extent and with such tenderness that the reader could be forgiving for believing Lolita welcomed his advances. Until he lets drop in a single sentence that she cries herself to sleep every single night.

A rich though black humour also punctuates the novel for all that it goes on to breed horror. The earlier sections especially those concerning his first wife, her Tsarist lover and Humbert's Arctic expeditions are quite hilarious. The book also deals with a definite sense of place and of being out of place. Humbert,, like Nabokov,, is a European new to the New World and though his depiction of America is not always flattering it is often insightful. No nostalgia is ever shown for 'rotting Europe' however even if he feels it gives him a superiority over the banal pretensions of his new countrymen. Despite his other predilections Humbert is a huge intellectual snob and his writing will probably appeal most to those who feel themselves akin to him in this respect, if no other.

Lolita is a dark and engrossing masterpiece and is in many ways more beautiful then it has any right to be. There is nothing pornographic or prurient about it but it does raise some quite complicated emotions in the reader. It should rightly be considered a classic but is rightly controversial and is quite simply one of the most astonishing things I have ever read. Much as I deplore censorship there is certainly something playfully dangerous about Lolita and it should only be recommended to the more sophisticated reader.

I was interested to see how `Lolita' would read, given the current climate, and was worried that Nabokov, writing in the 1950s, would somehow see paedophilia as being less serious than we would view it today. `Lolita' is undoubtedly an uncomfortable read. It is related from the perspective of a relatively unrepentant paedophile, Humbert Humbert. He documents the origins of his obsession with `nymphets' - pre-pubescent girls - and his pursuit of them. Eventually he meets Lolita, his landlady's daughter, and recounts his (eventually successful) plot to run away with her and take her for his lover while pretending to be father and daughter. Humbert's dual roles, as father and abuser, leads him to obsessive jealousy, and Lolita's accelerated adolescence leave her as a precocious adult in a child's body, scarred and cynical. Both lead to tragic consequences, and wasted lives in more ways than one.

Although Humbert is both the villain and narrator, he doesn't hide the sordidness of his crime, and the effects of abuse on Lolita are acknowledged. Nabokov brilliantly treads a fine line between making Humbert human (and seeing the world through his eyes) and recognising the reality of his crimes. Despite Nabokov's choice of making a paedophile his narrator and central character, there is little sympathy for Humbert throughout the book, and paedophilia is presented as being every bit as repugnant as it is generally viewed today. Where Humbert makes excuses for himself, it is clear that they are Humbert's, not Nabokov's, excuses, and we are not expected to sympathise. Humbert's actions are also not presented as being in any way erotic. There are no graphic descriptions either, the suggestion is enough.

Because Nabokov treats his subject so skilfully, `Lolita' was a fantastic book. It was a balanced psychological portrait of a repulsive man, who watches himself destroying lives. The subject matter was difficult, but Nabokov deal with it brilliantly. The language is lyrical and clever, and there is enough black humour to take the edge off an otherwise disturbing book. Deservedly labelled a twentieth century classic, and not a book to be avoided.

Narrowly beating Salinger's immortal 'Catcher', Nabokov's Lolita is arguably the best work of fiction yet written.

Firstly the reason it can claim this rare distinction over Salinger's masterpiece is quite simply, that it is better written. The language is more mellifluous, the narration all the more superb and the power of his conveyance is unrivalled. All this despite being Nabokov's SECOND language! The second reason it can lay claim to the honour of 'best novel' is due to the originality of the story and the complexities of the fictional characters. Like all great works of fiction Lolita draws the reader in, slowly but surely - there is no escape. If you intent to read this work and remain a spectator think again. There are no seats in the Gods for this performance, all seats are 'ring-side' and you WILL find yourself spattered when the blows land. Reading Lolita takes you on a roller-coaster ride inside the psyche of one person a (wo)man that exists in all human beings, whatever you crave, desire or lust after be it physical, material or spiritual the readers sure to recognise themselves in Humbert darkest shadows.

In reading Lolita it is easy to be led off course into the rough and to loose site of the flag. A simple tale of lust this is not and anyone arriving at such a conclusion is sure to have missed the point - maybe they never got out of the rough - never got a clear look at the flag? Lolita is a complex, thought-provoking self-analysis of one immensely intelligent, neurotic and probably insane man. And though we might be inclined to point our fingers or hide behind twitching curtains, gossiping with righteous indignation about the pedophile monster illuminated in the pages before us; again, to reach such an elementary conclusion is to have been deviously led astray. Maybe that is the conclusion he wants us to draw, the box all ready in which to place the though. To accept such an idea would be to let Humbert of the hook and relinquish him from pouring out his true heart and sole, an act that would leave him naked, paper thing and vulnerable. For Humbert is no a ordinary pedophile per se. (firstly define pedophile) he is an aesthete of some regard, a hopeless romantic child who never outgrew the love or loss of his childhood sweetheart, and who remains that child locked in the cage of an adult's body, forever in search of her scent. Lolita is not his love, his life as he once pondered his love is the past, his innocence his childhood he is eternally in seek of that moment one summer when he first encountered Annabel and first realised he was alive.

What is interesting to note in the novel is the multitude of layers present throughout. Humbert's own voices are numerous and span the spectrum of mental states. Sometimes deluded, sometimes psychotic, sometimes insane and occasionally rational we are given a veritable tour of Humbert's psyche. Peeling the layers away we also find a disparity between what Humbert would like to do (has he the chance, etc.) and what he actually did. One cannot help but feel that numerous comments penned in respect of his sexual exploits were simply he ego breaking forth in boastful prowess. The real Humber too nervous to do other than sit in the dark smoking cigarettes, watching Dolores sleep.

This is ultimately an immensely complex and profound work. A novel that really hits its mark. It needs to be approached with an open mind and a steady aim, for if you go of course or let your emotions run wild you will not enjoy the ride. And a memorable ride it is.

In many ways this book reminded me of another fantastic work 'American Beauty', in both works there are more than the occasional parallel drawn and in both works the author undoubtedly sets out to question our self-righteous Victorian pseudo moral principles. Principles we all charter and guard so dearly as if to prove by our distaste that we are upstanding citizens.