Lolita
by Vladimir Nabokov
Originally published by George Weidenfeld and Nicholson Ltd. in
1959
Lolita
is the story of an obsession, told by the obsessed who happens to
be a paedophile. Humbert Humbert is a "brand-new American citizen
of obscure European origin", a writer/academic who comes to
live in America after the Second World War. He becomes the lodger
of a widow, Charlotte Haze, who is the mother of a twelve year old
girl. His first sight of this girl – Lolita – reminds
him of a childhood sweetheart, and he decides there and then to
take up residence in the house. Nabokov presents the twisted thinking
of the obsessed man very explicitly. We follow his cold calculating
logic as he, in effect, stalks his prey – the giddy, giggly,
pretty Lolita who is a typical moody, noisy teenager constantly
battling with her mother. He seduces and marries Charlotte in order
to gain access to Lolita. Then when, fortuitously for him, the mother
is killed accidentally, he assumes guardianship and possession of
the child.
Humbert's
total lack of real concern for Lolita’s well-being is chilling.
He explains that after Charlotte’s death, "with all blocks
removed and prospect of delirious and unlimited delights before
me……I was obsessed by all sorts of purely ethical doubts
and fears". This is because he had taken no steps toward becoming
the legal guardian of his dead wife's daughter and dreaded having
his 'nymphet' taken away from him. Initially he does not tell Lolita
that her mother is dead and embarks on a flight across America with
her and, having brutally broken the news to her, he tries to comfort
her distress with presents. He fails her badly but this does not
concern him until they made it up very gently because "she
had absolutely nowhere else to go".
The
book is beautifully and powerfully written. Characters are minutely
observed, the life style of post-war America accurately if somewhat
cynically described. Nabokov gets under the skin of each of his
creations and brings them disturbingly to life. It is not an easy
book to read because of its taboo subject matter – child abuse
– and because it is difficult to feel sympathy for Humbert
who is alternately arrogant and mawkishly self-pitying. Also the
ending is both melodramatic and too neatly rounded off - every character
in some fashion gets his or her just or unjust deserts. Only Nabokov’s
skill as a writer enables the reader to suspend belief.
Reviewed
by a Clare County Library staff member. |