Style
Lolita: Style
Hello!! My name is Grace, and in AP Lit. and Composition, we're reading books of our own choosing (but they have to be books that were influential and basically milestones in literature), and I'm really excited about this unit because I get to not only read a book that I picked myself and write about it, but I also get to share what I'm learning with everyone else. I'm going to be blogging about Lolita, written by Vladimir Nabokov.
(Side note: When I first told my mom that I was going to be reading Lolita, she was flabbergasted and a little concerned. So, that's basically how this is going to go).
Before I even start talking about the book, I think it's pretty important to note that this book is loosely based on a true story. Even before I started reading, I researched the book and its origins, etc. etc. etc. and found that it was based on a case that began in 1948 where a girl named Sally Horner stole something from a store, and a man pretending to be an FBI agent caught her and, the next day, tricked her into coming with him or she would face consequences for her actions. This led to a long period of time where the girl was in the custody of the man (I won't reveal too much about what happened to her because it might reveal too much about the book, but you can probably imagine what took place). It was over a year before she was able to break free of him. Because I had this knowledge going into Lolita, it made everything seem so much more realistic as I was reading.
For my first blog, I'm going to be talking about pages 1-79, which is roughly the first quarter of the book. I'll start with some pretty brief plot summary. The main character and narrator is Humbert Humbert, who pretty much immediately reveals that 1) he is a murderer and 2) he is in prison. The book is Humbert looking back on his life, starting when he was young. Humbert had a relationship with a girl named Annabel in his childhood; Annabel was twelve years old at the time. He tells the reader about how they made a couple of attempts at sex, but both were thwarted by the circumstances surrounding them. Since then, even though Humbert is in his thirties and has grown in wisdom and physical stature, the object of his sexual desire has not. Humbert still is only sexually attracted to girls that he calls "nymphets," which are pretty and delicate girls within the ages of eight and thirteen. (If you were startled the first time and have to read that sentence again, go ahead and do it; I had to do the same thing). The first section of the reading also discusses Humbert's dabbling in prostitutes (girls he rapidly outgrows when they are no longer "nymphets"), and after this, Humbert marries a woman named Valeria in an attempt to curb his illicit desires (poor girl). This marriage, as you're probably expecting, does not work out. Later in his life, Humbert agrees to stay with a widow named Mrs. Haze, an unappealing prospect at first until he sees her twelve-year-old daughter, Dolores "Lo" Haze. Humbert thinks of her as "Lolita." It does not take long for him to become infatuated with her. Time passes while Humbert stays at the house with the two of them, and Lolita goes away to summer camp. Humbert and Mrs. Haze finally marry, Mrs. Haze because she loves him but Humbert because he wishes to be closer to Lolita permanently.
As I was reading, I noticed that Lolita has a really distinctive style. Most of the chapters are fairly short, but what they lack in length they make up for in content. Nabokov writes in verbose, lengthy paragraphs that are completely loaded with description and frequently follow Humbert's stream of consciousness. Also, Nabokov frequently skirts around a direct statement, and instead, he provides context and description to allow the reader to figure out what he's saying. For example, on page 21, instead of saying that he interacted with a prostitute, he instead avoids the word "prostitute" and describes how the girl looked and includes the detail that he asked her for her price. Another stylistic aspect of Lolita is Humbert's tone in describing the happenings of his life. He is poetic and lyrical in writing his account of events, and he also writes with a lot of humor and sarcasm. Lolita is definitely a handful, and there are many times where her mother just doesn't know what to do with her. On page 55 of the book, Lolita aims a tennis ball at her mother and then says, "Pardonnez, Mother. I was not aiming at you." Humbert, amused by Lolita's actions, writes, "Of course not, my hot downy darling." Finally, Humbert's account is obviously very biased because he reveals at the beginning of the book that he is on trial, and he is writing to make his situation more understandable to the "ladies and gentlemen of the jury" that he occasionally refers to. He pleads for understanding and sympathy because of his infatuation with the girl, an attraction which he believes could not be helped because love is not really something that anyone can control. This whole idea of love, though it obviously hasn't been completely developed yet, kind of made me think. A part of me is certainly disgusted with Humbert and his attraction to nymphets, but at the same time, it interests me to see what will come of his love for these types of girls. Is this an innocent sort of attraction that he would not think of acting upon, merely satisfying himself with being near Lolita, or will he take it further? Because of Humbert's abnormal ideas of love and objects of fascination, it results in a lack of human connection in his life that really means anything to him, which is sad but still definitely makes sense.
For these reasons and a lot of others, I'm super excited to keep reading Lolita and sharing the book and my thoughts about it with you! Thanks for reading my first post, I'll be back next week! :)
(Side note: When I first told my mom that I was going to be reading Lolita, she was flabbergasted and a little concerned. So, that's basically how this is going to go).
Before I even start talking about the book, I think it's pretty important to note that this book is loosely based on a true story. Even before I started reading, I researched the book and its origins, etc. etc. etc. and found that it was based on a case that began in 1948 where a girl named Sally Horner stole something from a store, and a man pretending to be an FBI agent caught her and, the next day, tricked her into coming with him or she would face consequences for her actions. This led to a long period of time where the girl was in the custody of the man (I won't reveal too much about what happened to her because it might reveal too much about the book, but you can probably imagine what took place). It was over a year before she was able to break free of him. Because I had this knowledge going into Lolita, it made everything seem so much more realistic as I was reading.
For my first blog, I'm going to be talking about pages 1-79, which is roughly the first quarter of the book. I'll start with some pretty brief plot summary. The main character and narrator is Humbert Humbert, who pretty much immediately reveals that 1) he is a murderer and 2) he is in prison. The book is Humbert looking back on his life, starting when he was young. Humbert had a relationship with a girl named Annabel in his childhood; Annabel was twelve years old at the time. He tells the reader about how they made a couple of attempts at sex, but both were thwarted by the circumstances surrounding them. Since then, even though Humbert is in his thirties and has grown in wisdom and physical stature, the object of his sexual desire has not. Humbert still is only sexually attracted to girls that he calls "nymphets," which are pretty and delicate girls within the ages of eight and thirteen. (If you were startled the first time and have to read that sentence again, go ahead and do it; I had to do the same thing). The first section of the reading also discusses Humbert's dabbling in prostitutes (girls he rapidly outgrows when they are no longer "nymphets"), and after this, Humbert marries a woman named Valeria in an attempt to curb his illicit desires (poor girl). This marriage, as you're probably expecting, does not work out. Later in his life, Humbert agrees to stay with a widow named Mrs. Haze, an unappealing prospect at first until he sees her twelve-year-old daughter, Dolores "Lo" Haze. Humbert thinks of her as "Lolita." It does not take long for him to become infatuated with her. Time passes while Humbert stays at the house with the two of them, and Lolita goes away to summer camp. Humbert and Mrs. Haze finally marry, Mrs. Haze because she loves him but Humbert because he wishes to be closer to Lolita permanently.
As I was reading, I noticed that Lolita has a really distinctive style. Most of the chapters are fairly short, but what they lack in length they make up for in content. Nabokov writes in verbose, lengthy paragraphs that are completely loaded with description and frequently follow Humbert's stream of consciousness. Also, Nabokov frequently skirts around a direct statement, and instead, he provides context and description to allow the reader to figure out what he's saying. For example, on page 21, instead of saying that he interacted with a prostitute, he instead avoids the word "prostitute" and describes how the girl looked and includes the detail that he asked her for her price. Another stylistic aspect of Lolita is Humbert's tone in describing the happenings of his life. He is poetic and lyrical in writing his account of events, and he also writes with a lot of humor and sarcasm. Lolita is definitely a handful, and there are many times where her mother just doesn't know what to do with her. On page 55 of the book, Lolita aims a tennis ball at her mother and then says, "Pardonnez, Mother. I was not aiming at you." Humbert, amused by Lolita's actions, writes, "Of course not, my hot downy darling." Finally, Humbert's account is obviously very biased because he reveals at the beginning of the book that he is on trial, and he is writing to make his situation more understandable to the "ladies and gentlemen of the jury" that he occasionally refers to. He pleads for understanding and sympathy because of his infatuation with the girl, an attraction which he believes could not be helped because love is not really something that anyone can control. This whole idea of love, though it obviously hasn't been completely developed yet, kind of made me think. A part of me is certainly disgusted with Humbert and his attraction to nymphets, but at the same time, it interests me to see what will come of his love for these types of girls. Is this an innocent sort of attraction that he would not think of acting upon, merely satisfying himself with being near Lolita, or will he take it further? Because of Humbert's abnormal ideas of love and objects of fascination, it results in a lack of human connection in his life that really means anything to him, which is sad but still definitely makes sense.
For these reasons and a lot of others, I'm super excited to keep reading Lolita and sharing the book and my thoughts about it with you! Thanks for reading my first post, I'll be back next week! :)
I must admit, the summary you wrote about the plot is disgusting. Not your writing, but the actual plot. Although interesting, reading this book would really bother me. What is fascinating is how you mention that the writing is so good that it almost makes readers have sympathy for the creepy man. It's strange how persuasive literature can be.
ReplyDeleteHow exactly does the author cause readers to feel sympathy for the pedophyle?
Hi Ben! Yeah, the plot is really hard to read because of how disturbing it is, but it's like a really bad movie - you want to shut it off, but you have to look and see what happens, you know?
DeleteI think the fact that the book is from Humbert's point of view makes it easier for us to sympathize with him because we're not getting any of an outside perspective's disgust or horror at what is going on. To him, it's perfectly normal, and the reader starts to appreciate the fact that he thinks differently from the rest of us.
This book sounds really fascinating yet conflicting. Your initial description about the book made me wonder why anyone would want to read something so disturbing but as I continued reading your post I became intrigued and I am curious to know where the plot will go. I think it would be interesting to read a novel from the opposite perspective of Delores "Lo".
ReplyDeleteHi Maggie,
DeleteYeah I agree! That's actually a really good idea to have a sequel from Lolita's point of view!
I totally agree that knowing the context of the Sally Horner case creates even more of a sense of uncomfortable realism in Humbert's account -- the instant one realizes that things similar to this have occurred in real life, the novel becomes even more chilling. The style of Nabokov's prose is absolutely gorgeous, even when the content itself is deeply disturbing, and it helps contribute to the illusion of it being an account truly made to drum up sympathy from a jury. In addition, the occasional shift to Humbert referring to himself in the third person when he does something distasteful creates a strong sense of disconnect and "regret". I can't wait to discuss Lolita more in class with you!
ReplyDeleteHi Sophia - I couldn't agree more! The style of writing I think contributes also to the sort of "mind games" Humbert plays with the reader - being more eloquent, particularly in his descriptions of love, makes it easier for us to sympathize with him and see things from his point of view.
DeleteGreat post!! I really liked how you added the part about how it was a real story that happened. I think this added something to your blog and helped clarify for those who are not reading this book. I also agreed with the fact that there is a very distinctive style in this book. I saw this when I was reading because you kind of need to reread some of the things that are said because it is not clearly stated. Good luck on the rest of your blog posts !!
ReplyDeleteThanks girl! Yeah, I've also had to reread a few passages in order to take in the full meaning of what Humbert is saying.
DeleteCan't wait to keep reading with you!
Grace, I love your parenthetical expressions and statements in your blog, as they add a lot of voice and interest to the piece.
ReplyDeleteYou might look up Annabel Lee by Edgar Allan Poe to consider how Nabokov is pulling in an allusion.
Nice job.
You did a really good job exploring the meaning of love in Lolita despite having to read about Humbert's extremely weird character. I don't know if I could read this book myself, I think it would really creep me out. You also talked about human connection which is interesting because it seems to come up in pretty much every book we've read so far this year in class.
ReplyDelete