Lolita

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov is a tragicomedy about a middle aged man who narrates under the pseudonym Humbert Humbert. After a phony introduction from the editor of Humbert's manuscript, and H.H.'s famous first lines ("Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins"(9)) , the poetic protagonist narrates his sexual escapades with Lolita's precursor, Annabel Lee. The readers then follow his journey from Europe to New England, where he first sets eyes on Lolita, his marriage to her mother, Charlotte, and Charlotte's subsequent death, their "father-daughter" journey around the U.S., and Lolita's escape with Claire Quilty.

A critic of Lolita said that in order to read and appreciate the multitudinous facets of the novel, the reader must reread it. The second time through, Humbert's "jury," as he refers to the readers, are less ensnared by (but never completely free from) his manipulative narration. S/he is more able to comprehend the full extent of H.H.'s pedophilic relationship with the preteen and just-teen Lolita, and the cruelty he subjects her to under the guise of love. With a second reading, Nabokov's audience can also catch the foreshadowing, wordplay, and hundreds of allusions hidden in the novel's pages.

Lolita is enigmatic, and its theme is ambiguous. It is hopeful and hopeless, hilarious and tragic, but never obvious. To make it short, Lolita is genius.

Those who haven't read the novel and feel like solving a mystery, I invite you into Humbert and Lolita's world, but be prepared to end up unexpressibly frustrated at Nabokov for his equivocality. For those that have already read it, I suggest you read it again. Lolita has made its mark on society; it has lent its name to new words, new fashions, and unfortunately, certain kinds of pornography. To say that Lolita is worth reading is like saying Avatar was mildly successful.

GO READ IT.

-SJ