Lolita by Vladimir NabokovDear Mr. Nobokov,
Kindly accept my apologies for not accomplishing the mission of studying your work in the most literary sense (as I assume perhaps may be your purpose). Do consider that I had not had the slightest idea of the subject of the work beforehand, so I did not start reading it with any prejudice in my mind. No, I did not.
The beginning of the book was quite effortless. The words flowed exactly as you had designed them to flow, with the desired rhythm of course. You were quite good when it came to illuminating the situation of poor Humbert. Ah, his desires, his love, Annabel, nymphets, sin, loin…….! Poor Humbert, on the look out for a “demon child”!!……While you so elegantly explained the passionate state H.H faced every time he came across a nymphet, my mind raced to the somehow (deliberately?) missed terror in the eyes of the later, if she, by any chance, caught the poor Humbert’s intent gaze directed at her. Oh that weird feeling of understanding that mysterious look while just beginning to acknowledge the unwarranted changes, which differentiated her from her best pal sometimes, was so shocking that she wondered if any thing was wrong with her.
Believe me; I did try to understand the agony that Humbert went through when he had strenuous exercise of love making three times with the orphan (for the very first time). But I couldn’t help imagining the prospective young female, out of that nymphet, who either ended up being a schizophrenic or turned out to be a wretched woman, someone who couldn’t ever trust any one again! Someone, who missed out the pleasure of being a normal person, someone for whom the Sun did not shine the same way or the Rain did not ever signify the beginning of something new.
And I would have very much proceeded with the understanding, hadn’t I come across the secret desire of Humbert to practice the art of being a Granddad on Lolita, the third.
Ah there, can you notice the welling tears in my eyes? I give up.
So, this was the end of my journey through your work (which I vainly tried to achieve in nearly seven attempts).
RIP Humbert. May you are never born again!
P.S. I don’t think I can ever rate this book.
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What makes the book so powerful is the completely taboo subject matter. How can one write about something like that without having lived it? While I was utterly repulsed by the topic it does deserve artistic applause (provided the author wasn't a pedophile) as it enters into a world and logic that luckily eludes most of us.
ReplyDeleteTo me when I was reading it I almost felt like I was wearing the skin of another person. From his twisted position his actions and desires made sense. That said it was a most unpleasant experience and to some degree I would almost have to say I think that book is as close to evil as the printed word can be. It's also a book that some people would be best advised not to read as I could see it opening the door to acting on thoughts they might have never known were there.
Yes it is a powerful book for the subject matter it deals in. I understand that the author deliberately didn't write through Lolita's perspective as he wanted it to be a work solely concentrated on the psychology of a pedophile. He wanted to portray the character as he best understood and wanted the readers to understand in the light.
ReplyDeleteAnd he did definitely succeed, because more people, though they might go through agony while reading this, but they cannot stop appreciating the writer to bring the subject matter forth to their attention.