AlternateRoute

It is probably dangerous having the title of “Lolita” in a blog called “AlternateRoute” (at least with the Australian connotations), as the site might get bombarded by paedophiles. The log is to say that I have just finished the book by Vladimir Nabakov. It was suggested to me by a member of my wife’s book club who thought I would enjoy it. Call me a philistine, but I didn’t like it at all.
I wasn’t offended by the story or the topic in general, I just found it a hard slog of a read. The sentences are generally long and complicated giving lengthy descriptions of the smallest detail. Whilst this might be seen by some as the essence of good literature, I think it just alienates the reader. Also annoying was the frequent use of French throughout the novel. Good for our bi-lingual friends in Canada, but simply annoying for everyone else.
As for the characters, I found Lolita to be fairly one dimensional and didn’t develop at all during the course of the novel. The main character Humbert Humbert was repulsive. He was weak, possessive and sickly and reminded me a bit of J. Alfred Prufrock.
I found the ending pathetic and meaningless. The final crime seems to serve no purpose except perhaps to show the depth of Humbert’s madness and lack of conscious.
I welcome comments pointing out what I have missed, but I wouldn’t recommend the book to anyone.

This entry was posted on Friday, October 27th, 2006 at 1508 and is filed under Books. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.