Lolita Passage

Russian writer, Vladimir Nabokov, wrote only a few novels in the English language. His most renowned novel, Lolita, was one of the few originally written in English. However due to the books controversial storyline it was first published in France only to be allowed in the United States years later. The novel’s subject matter is grotesque yet the delivery of it is impeccable. Lolita is easily one of Nabokov’s best novels for reasons that range from its ‘fancy prose’ to its interesting storyline. Lolita is written in second person with Humbert Humbert as the narrator. Humbert’s prose is immediately enticing. The opening passage of the novel has Humbert describing his love interest’s name: “My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the

The subtle literary techniques used to instill emotions of sympathy towards Humbert force readers to ask themselves a difficult question: Is there a difference in the severity of Humbert’s crimes because he committed them out of love? The dark comedy prompting readers to ask these types of questions just adds to the laundry list of reasons why Lolita is good. However the book ends leaving its readers only with more questions. This is because even after reading all 287 pages of the nymphet erotica there is no resolve, and the story ends as just a narrative by a main who fantasizes about little girls. Even so this book is still is worth reading though there is no resolve the reader is left to ponder the complex yet interesting questions of morality such as: because Humbert was not the first to get to Lolita was it alright for him to peruse her? or because Lolita ‘seduced’ him was their relationship justifiable? These questions though the answers maybe obvious to some still will cross the readers mind, and because of the books ability to persuade the reader to consider these difficult questions the book displays quality and