I had heard a lot of hype about this book...and I honestly don't think I had heard anyone talk negatively about it. Always described to me as a favorite and the object of literary obsessions by hip kids. There was a girl in one of my writing classes at SAIC who devoted her time to an art piece that transcribed the book in its entirety, through colored grids on graph paper. According to Nabokov's synesthesia. It's a pretty idea, really.
As for me, I cannot say it will be a favorite of mine, but it's obviously got its strengths. It was bold, surely. And I was very uncomfortable when Humbert described beauty in children. Hair falling upon skinned knees...that is one particularly creepy image.
That the object of desire was such an obviously distasteful little girl was pretty genius. Part of me hated her, but I suppose that's what happens when a child is raised in such conditions. As my ex-boyfriend said to me when discussing her wretchedness, "That's love though".
I was surprised at how comedic the narrative became during the last scenes of Quilty's murder. Quite a change from some of the slower, duller moments in the middle sections when Humbert was in bliss. Quilty's scene was so ridiculous that it seemed a departure from the story that led to it. I guess though, that that dark humor was there all along, such as in Humbert's fantasies about Charlotte.
Also, how the hell was he making money?? Or, how much freaking money had he in his savings??
Relatively, I see that Kubrick's Lolita is categorized as a comedy-drama. Perhaps I will have to see it.
Also as a sidenote, searching "Lolita" in google images returns a bevvy of Japanese girls in Lolita outfits. Should have known. -_______-
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