Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov

Pop Culture has always provided easy to interpret references making it clear that there were issues of pederasty broached in this novel. Like many other ‘classics’, I knew very little about Lolita other than it contained a young girl, an older man and one party or the other was responsible for a very taboo seduction. When a copy of this novel appeared within my grasp I jumped at the opportunity to delve in and reveal some of the mysteries clouding my understanding of the all-permeating references.
First and foremost, I love the manner in which this story is told. We are drawn in, thinking we are about to read a very controversial autobiography and the first person narrative maintains this confession feeling throughout. We truly feel that the curtain is pulled aside and we are free to feel even more strongly about our lead characters because of this intimacy.
Humbert Humbert (a pseudonym used by our imaginary autobiographer) has always had a compulsion for nymphs. He considers these 9-14 year old girls of the most lithe and immature limb to be the ultimate aphrodisiac. He spends fruitless years seeking solace apart from and within this desire to no avail.
Any website can give a descriptive summary of the story if that is what my reader seeks but I would just like to comment of the few items which I most appreciated from this work. Nabokov is a brilliant writer. In the Epilogue he claims that he writes best in Russian and feels restricted in English but, all the same, he shows such a complete and utter mastery of the English language that reading this novel is sipping a fine, complex wine. Surface layers are tasty and satisfying, with little, beautifully crafted surprises popping occasionally to the surface. More than his immense vocabulary and articulate style, his French is perfectly sewn throughout, giving the reader a true feel for our narrator and his educated and poetic form of expression.

I love a book that uses other languages without pausing to translate. Even in the instances that I did not understand I enjoyed the use of unsimplified French to such a degree that it matters not what I missed because of my ignorance.

I picked up this Novel 4 days ago and whipped through it’s 300 plus pages always regretting when I would have to set it down to continue with other parts of life. What could be better than a book that takes you so fiercely?

I understand that this a classic because of the unique form of narrative but this story stands on it’s own merits as well. It is a shock to me that I haven’t heard of other Nabokov Novels being read as classics.

Death Valley in ’49 by William Lewis Manly.

A surprisingly eloquent take of pioneer travel during the Gold Rush of 1849. Williams Lewis Manly is not a greatly educated man but he provides a more than capable account of his experiences and those collectively shared by his party as they traveled from the Midwest through Death Valley into California over the winter of 1849-50.

Manly reads and, truly seems to have been, as a tremendously modest and morally upstanding gentlemen. In an era that will forever be shrouded in tales of wild outlaws and Indian massacres, Manly provides and describes a far more civil and humanely obligated take of the times.

This book is really more of an autobiography as it takes us through Manly’s entire life; from boyhood to old age. However, the reason I picked up this book, and the real reason it was published, is the account of Manly’s party dragging themselves through Death Valley, having more brushes with death that can be counted and, coming out better for the suffering on the other end.

This tale resonates particularly well with me as I as a wrestler in High School. There were days when I had been without water for up to 72 hours while working out vigorously. I have lied down in bed and prayed that my suffering would be over soon. Having been through such a degree of dehydration I can empathize with some of the feelings this party shared. Having never been in a situation of not knowing if I would be able to find water or food enough to survive I am not completely able to grasp the emotions that would be involved with certain parts of their journey. Manly seems to know that we would not fully grasp this experience as he states many times: ‘words cannot fully describe the depths of our misery’. He plainly accepts that we will have to transport ourselves to such a time and place as no words would ever fully convey the magnitude of such a hardship.

Death Valley in ’49 is a wonderful take on humanity and a quick read for its content and length. You will feel transported and invigorated to explore and have your own go at wilderness.