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Lolitaby Vladimir Nabokov |
Kim Sisto Robinson: "LOLITA, LIGHT OF MY LIFE, FIRE OF MY LOINS, MY SIN, MY SOUL. Looo-Leee-Taaa. The tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps. Looo-Leee-Taaa." --- Humbert Humbert
Vladimir Nabokov is a genius, a god. He can take a devil like Humbert Humbert and make his readers feel empathy for him, make his readers feel what he is feeling. And that's not fair because Humbert Humbert is a pervert, a pedophile, and a monster. He even admits it himself... "If only she saw the monster behind the eyes. I am the devil's play thing."
Humbert Humbert is also a poet, an intellectual, fluidly articulate, and good looking. The reader will hate him and pity him at the same time. His thoughts are written so beautifully, so superbly, that the reader may forget for a moment what he truly is: Satan incarnate. You see, Humbert Humbert likes young girls (Nymphets) as he calls them but especially Lolita. He describes her knees, her legs, her soft skin, the way her hair drapes over her apple fresh cheeks. How lovely. How wicked. He describes his 35 year old wife like this: "Being with her was like thrashing inside a decaying forest." Shame on you, Humbert Humbert.
Nabokov is so smart. The reader may be wondering why
Humbert Humbert is used twice-- because he is two people:
Monster & Human. He cannot even talk about himself in first
person: "Humbert Humbert is the Devil's plaything,
a monster." Nabokov touches on something all of us can
identify with in some strange, immoral way, and we may
speculate why we continue reading. After all, Humbert
Humbert is appalling and sinful and hideous but Lolita is
bursting with beauty and music and so deliciously lyrical
that we cannot stop. The words seduce us, entice us,
and draw us into Nabokov's brilliance until we drown
inside his words. This book cannot be rated. It is off the charts.
Rating: *****
