Lolita

In Chapter 8, Humbert encounters a seemingly unimportant piece of passage. The passage is cited at the end of the chapter. Humbert doesn't say much about it, which makes it cryptic. He acknowledges the ambiguity himself: "I was treated last night to one of those dazzling coincidences that logicians loathe and poets love." I can't help but have some speculations.

"Quine, Dolores."
Why does Humbert mention this name? Is this the same Dolores, by any chance? Was her last name just changed, like Humbert changed Lolita's name to "Haze"?

"Guilty of killing Quilty."
What does this mean? Why is she guilty of killing quilty? And what's up with the pun?

Nabokov sums up this chapter nicely:
"Oh, readers, I have only words to play with."

Lolita

Erm. So I had just read Humbert’s childhood travails with a girl named Annabel Leigh, and I felt, well, quite uncomfortable. When Humbert describes that night he went with her to the mimosa, I felt myself slightly squirming in my seat. Nabokov wrote the scene so graphic that I was forced to imagine the scene whilst reading, yet he wrote it so elegantly convoluted that I had to analyze what was actually going on beneath those words. Chapter 4, especially the mimosa scene, had a lithe, airy feel to it. However, I felt uncomfortable because in the back of my head I couldn’t help but keep thinking that this man is a criminal, and Annabel Leigh could have been Lolita. Words suggestive of the shattering of childhood innocence (e.g. “half pleasure, half-pain,” “her lovely live legs” “her open mouth”) certainly do not help mitigate that image.

Lolita

Humbert Humbert presents a picturesque portrait of his childhood. He was the son of rich parents, was pampered and lived a privileged life at the French Riviera. With a beautiful life such as this, I wonder why he turned out the way he is now. And what a stark contrast from the people whose lives he is about to ruin! He talks in a refined, uptight manner—very appropriate for a man of rich upbringing, yet the secrets that lie beneath his genteel attitude make him a more revolting character.

I noticed that when Humbert talks about his family, he has a distant—even sarcastic, mocking—air. (e.g. “My very photogenic mother…” I mean, come on, who talks about their mother like that?) In addition, when I found out what had happened to Humbert’s mother (struck by lightning), I immediately thought of the Socratic discussion we had in English class after we finished Hamlet, where Ms. Sobrero talked about attachment disorders. Sometimes I wonder if Humbert’s lack of a mother figure (as well as a father figure) throughout his whole life influenced his inclinations at all?

Lolita

“Lolita, light of my life, fire in my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta.”

As I am reading this book I am starting to understand why this is considered as a literary classic despite its grotesque premise. Reading the foreword for the first time completely went through my head; I had to re-read to understand Nabokov’s complex yet elegant language. This book seems to be laden with various metaphors and allusions, which makes it a challenging read and thus worthy of literary merit. Moreover, I have found that Lolita is the first English-language novel for Nabokov, a Russian, and this impresses me greatly.

Hamizzle

Hamlet Essay here at Starbucks... I can concentrate better writing here than at home.

Why I Chose to Read Lolita (Preliminary Post)

When I heard that we were about to pick our books for the Independent Reading Project, I had my heart set on picking the book that was going to be as controversial as possible. I am a quirky person who has a penchant for quirky things--thus, I intended to go outside of the norm by reading books with "sensitive" subjects.

Lolita was the first book that came to my mind, but I also considered other possibilities:

1. The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath

I wanted to pick this book at first to bring other people's attention to Plath's writing (I love her), and also because I wanted to read it again--but this time, I wanted to deeply analyze it. However, the prospect of re-reading a book didn't exactly seem appealing to me, and I thought it would somewhat defeat the whole purpose of the project. I think everyone should try to read her and try to understand her works, nonetheless.

2. Anything by D.H. Lawrence

Lady Chatterley's Lover had a controversial subject matter, and I think it would be interesting to read a book with a female protagonist in a position of sexual power, but everyone in my class wants to read it. Boring.

Sons and Lovers had a similar plot to Lolita, though... Moreover, it has a female character who isn't vulnerable--compared to the protagonist in Nabokov's novel. What more can I want? Of course, I chose the latter because, despite sexual power struggles and whatnot, it's not as revolting as the subject of Nabokov's novel. However, sometimes I regret not choosing Sons and Lovers. Oh well. Maybe I'll read it for leisure, after college apps...

3. Maurice - E.M. Forster

Since I couldn't get my hands on the book, I watched the 1980s movie. This was such a great story! The dialogue in the movie (copied verbatim from the book) had so much symbolism that I wanted to grab the book and read it myself! What better opportunity to read this than during IRP? YES, YES, and YES I WANTED THIS BOOK--but eventually, no, because 1) a copy of Maurice was just so damn hard to find on Barnes&Noble; 2) it wasn't on Sobrero's list of 'classic, really important books.' Maybe there just hasn't been much attention on Maurice? I just wish people would come to appreciate this novel more...

4. Other LGBT-themed books

I tried looking up LGBT-themed books on the internet (because LGBT-themed books are always a controversial issue in uptight 19th and 20th Century, they're a gem), but to no avail. Maybe I'll ask Ms. Sobrero for a recommendation of LGBT-themed books to read after college apps...

Site Updates

Hi! I'm back!

We're finally starting our Independent Reading Project! I'm so excited to read my book I already bought it the moment I came from school.

To celebrate, I decided to update the look of my blog by adding pictures of all the books I've analyzed in the sidebar. Of course, the "big kahuna" book, the one I'll be reading for the Independent Readong Project--Lolita--has a bigger picture than the rest of my other summer books. You should go check it out! The pictures look SO cool on my blog!