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Original Essays | April 16, 2013

Urban Waite: IMG The Dark Side

0 comments By Urban Waite

Every night after I finish work, I sit down to write this essay, and every night I fail. And failure, believe it or not, is one of the best things... Continue »
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Lolita

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Lolita Cover

 

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

Awe and exhiliration — along with heartbreak and mordant wit — abound in Lolita, Nabokov's most famous and controversial novel, which tells the story of the aging Humbert Humbert's obsessive, devouring, and doomed passion for the nymphet Dolores Haze. Lolita is also the story of a hypercivilized European colliding with the cheerful barbarism of postwar America. Most of all, it is a meditation on love — love as outrage and hallucination, madness and transformation.

Review:

"It is a distinguished novel." Graham Greene

Review:

"Lolita is a fine book, a distinguished book — all right then — a great book." Dorothy Parker, Esquire

Review:

"Passions never burned so feverishly as in this, the great and perverse love story of our times." Michael Dirda, Washington Post Book World

Synopsis:

Nabokov's notorious erotic murder mystery takes the form of a monologue by his hero, Humbert Humbert, as he attempts to justify his love for and obsession with the barely adolescent Lolita. Humbert Humbert is contrasted with the evil Quilty, who pursues Lolita not out of love but out of lust and selfishness, and who functions as a kind of double for the more pure-hearted (if perverse) Humbert — and whom Humbert must murder in the end.

Synopsis:

Awe and exhiliration--along with heartbreak and mordant wit--abound in Lolita, Nabokov's most famous and controversial novel, which tells the story of the aging Humbert Humbert's obsessive, devouring, and doomed passion for the nymphet Dolores Haze. Lolita is also the story of a hypercivilized European colliding with the cheerful barbarism of postwar America. Most of all, it is a meditation on love--love as outrage and hallucination, madness and transformation.
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About the Author

Vladimir Nabokov was born in St. Petersburg, Russia, in 1899. After studying French and Russian literature at Trinity College, Cambridge, he launched his literary career in Berlin and Paris. In 1940 he moved to the United States, here he achieved renown as a novelist, poet, critic, and translator. Lolita, arguably his most famous novel, was first published, by the Olympia Press, Paris, on September 15, 1955, and became a controversial success. Nabokov died in Montreux Switzerland in 1977.
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What Our Readers Are Saying

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Average customer rating based on 8 comments:
Judson, January 30, 2013 (view all comments by Judson)
One of the best books I have ever read.
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larissa, January 1, 2012 (view all comments by larissa)
Wonderfully written novel. I would highly recommend it to anyone who loves good literature.
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brittanyandallthatjazz, September 20, 2011 (view all comments by brittanyandallthatjazz)
This book made me fall in love with words. I didn't realize how powerful words can be, how much control they can have over the mind until Lolita. As Humbert Humbert, the narrator, says,"You can always count on a murderer for a fancy prose style." Readers can often be disturbed by the subject matter, most notably pedophilia, but what makes this story brilliant is Nabokov's ability to make you sympathize with an inherently unlikable character. Its poetic manipulation is what makes Lolita unforgettable.
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Product Details

ISBN:
9780679723165
Author:
Nabokov, Vladimir
Publisher:
Vintage Books USA
Location:
New York :
Subject:
Literary
Subject:
Middle aged men
Subject:
Classics
Subject:
Continental european fiction (fictional works
Subject:
Girls
Subject:
Love stories
Subject:
Erotic stories
Subject:
Literature-A to Z
Copyright:
c195
Edition Number:
2
Edition Description:
Trade paper
Series:
Vintage International (Paperback)
Series Volume:
0000
Publication Date:
19890331
Binding:
TRADE PAPER
Grade Level:
General/trade
Language:
English
Illustrations:
Y
Pages:
336
Dimensions:
8.03x5.21x.77 in. .57 lbs.
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Related Subjects


Fiction and Poetry » Erotica » Featured Titles
Fiction and Poetry » Literature » A to Z

Lolita New Trade Paper
0 stars - 0 reviews
$15.95 In Stock
Product details 336 pages Vintage Books USA - English 9780679723165 Reviews:
"Review" by , "It is a distinguished novel."
"Review" by , "Lolita is a fine book, a distinguished book — all right then — a great book."
"Review" by , "Passions never burned so feverishly as in this, the great and perverse love story of our times."
"Synopsis" by , Nabokov's notorious erotic murder mystery takes the form of a monologue by his hero, Humbert Humbert, as he attempts to justify his love for and obsession with the barely adolescent Lolita. Humbert Humbert is contrasted with the evil Quilty, who pursues Lolita not out of love but out of lust and selfishness, and who functions as a kind of double for the more pure-hearted (if perverse) Humbert — and whom Humbert must murder in the end.
"Synopsis" by , Awe and exhiliration--along with heartbreak and mordant wit--abound in Lolita, Nabokov's most famous and controversial novel, which tells the story of the aging Humbert Humbert's obsessive, devouring, and doomed passion for the nymphet Dolores Haze. Lolita is also the story of a hypercivilized European colliding with the cheerful barbarism of postwar America. Most of all, it is a meditation on love--love as outrage and hallucination, madness and transformation.
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