Lolita
Vladimir Nabokov’s name is most closely associated with his novel, “Lolita,” although he published numerous other novels both in English and Russian. This classic, written in the early 1950's, was a moral affront to the American population at the time of its release, and yet went straight to the New York Times Best Sellers list and stayed there for six straight months until it was ousted by Dr. Zhivago.
For those of you not familiar with “Lolita,” it tells the story of Humbert Humbert, a middle aged man who begins an affair with his twelve year old stepdaughter, Dolores, whom he called Lolita.
Nabokov himself came from an aristocratic Russian family, and knew three languages by the time he was an early teenager. He found two passions in life, the study of butterflies, and writing. He eventually moved to England and gained a degree at Cambridge, and translated Lewis Carroll’s “Alice’s Adventures In Wonderland,” into Russian. He then moved to Berlin where he married, until Hitler began to rise in popularity, when he and his wife moved to the Untied States where they remained for many years. He was wealthy enough to publish his own book once, but also worked in a variety of different jobs. His first in America was for the Museum of Natural History, catalouging butterflies.
In the early 1950's Nabokov wrote “Lolita,” his twelfth, and most notable novel. It was first published in France in 1955, and the U.S. refused to publish it until 1958 because of its lurid and immoral material. Once released it was widely acclaimed, and considered one of the best novels written up to then, certainly of Nabokov’s. The author had received critisim before for not writing more Russian works, dealing with Russian issues, but Nabokov never liked to write social commentary and felt that in the end, any piece of writing should be to satisfy the author. Hopefully, the audience would also enjoy it.
The author scripts an affair between a middle aged man, and a young girl...his stepdaughter. In the book, Humbert Humbert, the lead character, expresses his frustration over the seeming hippocracy of the situation, explaining that in many countries older men and young girls are not only accepted but encouraged, and many girls are married off at young ages. However, in his current situation and place, this is not at all acceptable, and instead he would be considered a child molester. The girl, Lolita as he lovingly calls her, is not your typical twelve year old. When I first began reading the book, I expected your usual naive and innocent pre-teen, and instead found a
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