‘Lolita’ is such a unique reading experience that is truly hard to put into words. In a way, I do not feel I can say I ‘enjoyed’ it, because I spent the entire time feeling so incredibly disgusted and disturbed by the contents, however that is what Nabokov intended the readers to experience. For that, I believe this is an excellent piece of literature.

‘Lolita’ is not a romance. I must say this, because the amount of interpretations I have seen from cis white men claiming this to be a romance is more perturbing than the book itself. This is ,perhaps in parts a comedy but, overall, a thriller and satire, portraying the narrative of a sick, twisted, paedophilic mind.

HH uses his positions of power to take advantage of Dolly, who from his perspective wanted it. I found myself questioning his reasoning in parts, as somehow he convinces himself that Dolly seduced him, and consents to this relationship, but he later comments about ‘her sobs in the night-every night, every night-the moment I feigned sleep.’ He knows she is crying the moment she feels safe to, and yet he still believes his own lies? I don’t believe that, I think that HH knew exactly what he was doing, but wrote it in this way to gain sympathy from the fictional audience. Who would the readers have more sympathy for, a man who was ‘seduced’ by a young girl and gave into his urges, or a man who grooms, kidnaps, and frequently assaults a child? Of course it is the latter that happened, but HH would not get the sympathy and understanding he so desperately wants if he wrote it in that way.

There was one particular point I found interesting, when HH had a sudden, momentary, awakening, in which his perception of Dolly changed completely, and he saw her as the growing highschooler she was. He commented about how much she had changed, and grown up, and while it was brief, I thought it reflected his preferences rather well: he is of course a paedophile, so when he perceived Dolly to be growing up, he felt disgusted and no longer attracted to her. It was fascinating how quickly his view of her could change, from obsession to disdain.

Overall, I believe ‘Lolita’ deserves its place as a classic; Nabokov’s writing and inspirations are so unique, interesting, and subversive, especially for the time it was written. He is an excellent author, and understands how to evoke a range of emotions in his readers.

Interesting quotes:

• ‘A salad of racial genes’

• ‘A famous spy’

• ‘Furthermore, since the idea of time plays such a magic part in the matter, the student should not be surprised to learn that there must be a gap of several years, never less than ten I should say, generally thirty or forty, and as many as ninety in a few known cases, between maiden and man to enable the latter to come under a nymphet's spell.’

• ‘Nymphets do not occur in polar regions’

• ‘Potentially homosexual’

• ‘I think I had better describe her right away, to get it over with’

• ‘A great big handsome hunk of movieland manhood’ - HH describing self

• ‘…if she ever found out I did not believe in Our Christian God, she would commit suicide.’

• ‘…for great sleepless artists who had to die for a few hours in order to live for centuries.’

• ‘and her sobs in the night-every night, every night-the moment I feigned sleep.’

• “Miss Cormorant cannot decide whether Dolly has exceptional emotional control or none at all. Miss Horn reports she—I mean, Dolly-cannot verbalize her emotions,”

• "Can you remember," she said, "what was the name of that hotel, you know [nose puckered], come on, you know-with those white columns and the marble swan in the lobby? Oh, you know [noisy exhalation of breath]—the hotel where you raped me….”

• ‘The fog of all lust had been swept away leaving nothing but this dreadful lucidity. Oh, she had changed! Her complexion was now that of any vulgar untidy highschool girl….’