On a track from her latest CD, pop star Miley Cyrus sings: "I've been to New York and to L.A. and to Baton Rouge / I met a boy in every city / No one kept me amused. / But don't call me a Lolita / 'Cause I don't let 'em through. / 'Cause I'm saving all my lovin' for someone / And it's you."
Whether or not Ms. Cyrus has read Lolita is not the important point here—it's the cultural impact of Nabokov's chilling novel. The term Lolita is now commonly used in reference to the situations found in the book, most often to describe a sexually precocious young lady. And as Miley shows above, the term is not limited to older generations.
Since its publication in 1955, the novel has been an object of controversy. It struggled to find an American publisher, was recalled because of its contents, and is frequently found on banned books lists. But despite it's controversial subject matter, the novel is still a quite profound object of beauty. Nabokov's brilliant narrator tells a sordid tale in undeniably beautiful language.
Keeping this post as spoiler-free as possible, discussion covered topics such as Humbert Humbert's status as an unreliable narrator, the way the writing contrasts with the subject matter, and one of the novel's most controversial questions: how much HH is to blame for the events of the novel. We also discussed the novel's great closing, and used it to gauge HH's remorse.
If you have not read Lolita, please do so immediately (winter break is coming soon). Not only is the book culturally important, but it is also one of the best novels ever written, showcasing Nabokov's extraordinary skill as a writer.
I'm so glad I finally read Lolita for the book club. I knew the subject matter was difficult for some of my friends, but it was so well-written.
ReplyDeleteAs a woman, I find the novel Lolita emotionally disturbing on so many levels. I know intellectually that the novel is beautifully written and that it provides the sort of opening into a character's mind that doesn't usually take place merely through words, but oh! the mind that is revealed!
ReplyDeleteThe novel is two generations old, yet it still resonates today: are pre-teens too highly sexualized by contemporary culture? how much sexual desire can adults believe they are seeing in children? why is an pre-adolescent female body more desirable as a model for clothing than an adult woman's body? Do we even have a social model for sexual desire between people with equal social power?
Read the novel -- you'll be glad you did so.
Diane Steinberg
It's a testament to the enduring relevance of the novel that several prolific non-fiction books have spun off from it. Two notable titles are Reading Lolita in Tehran by Azar Nafisi, which uses Lolita as a metaphor for the oppression of women by the Iranian government and Vera (Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov) by Stacy Schiff, who won the Pulitzer Prize for Autobiography in 2000 for the book.
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