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.