Lo's Diary [Paperback]

The beginning is the best part and I found myself dreading the moment Humbert would come along and help her pound the final nail in her childhood. But of course he does, and she seduces him, proving that for all her precociousness she is really just a brash, flirtatious child with no ability to foresee consequences. I think that her reactions once she's realized how she's trapped herself ring true. I agree her narrative sounds too adult, but the emotions involved feel real. She goes from vaguely hoping they can make it work, to bored resignation, to suicidal fantasies, then back to bored resignation - only this time with an eye toward the future.

She is not a particularly likeable girl, but I found her touching and interesting. And she IS a victim of the adult world - she is just determined to survive it. In her eyes, Humbert's failure is not that he's a pedophile, but that he's a hypocritical coward. I think "Lolita" could very well have been the person portrayed here.

If you think the real, original Lolita is too sacred to be defiled by reading this version then you definitely should not waste your time. But if you are curious and you can come to terms with writing that is certainly below Nabokov (though not bad) then go for it.

This, of course, is not Nabokov writing, so it's going to be unlike his writing, which is, as many fans understand, marvelous. Pia Pera, though not as incredible, is marvelous in her own right and just that she had the guts to get this through to a wide audience is enough to give her a nod (or a raspberry if that's all you can accomplish). There's obviously something to it if it's gotten this far. But no it's not Nabokov, so leave it at that.

As for a twelve year old never being able to use language of this kind try reading The History Of Luminous Motion by Scott Bradfield and tell me if a ten year old boy could use language like that. Maybe if snobbish "grown-ups" would get off their high horses and stop laughing at young people who use big words they'd find out kids can be a great deal more intellegent than anyone gives them credit for. They can use language like this and do. So get over that (while remembering the definition of the word "fiction") and I'm sure you'll enjoy this book, if it's mere elements strike your fancy.