Quote & Comment | from “Lolita” by Vladimir Nabokov

October 23, 2012 by Peter Galen Massey

I am thinking of aurochs and angels, the secret of durable pigments, prophetic sonnets, the refuge of art. And this is the only immortality you and I may share, my Lolita.

Nabokov’s masterpiece is frightening story of abuse, a Gogolish road-trip through post-war America, a funhouse of unreliable mirrors, and a tale of selfish vice vanquished (but not excused) by love. After Humbert Humbert destroys his doppelgänger in the fairy-tale mansion on Grimm Road, he and Nabokov make a furious last dash to preserve Dolores Haze from time and death. They succeed.

Posted in Literature, Vladimir Nabokov | Tagged Literature | 5 Comments

5 Responses

on October 23, 2012 at 1:38 pm | Reply Mary

I love this book.
- on October 23, 2012 at 2:09 pm | Reply Peter Galen Massey
  
  I do too, as you might guess. Though liking “Lolita” is an opinion that can take a little explaining.
on October 24, 2012 at 8:18 pm | Reply Lolita love « Dieu on the Grass

[…] Quote & Comment | from “Lolita” by Vladimir Nabokov (petergalenmassey.com) […]
on October 30, 2012 at 1:17 pm | Reply Staffan

It’s a great book but sadly stupid people think it glorifies pedophilia. As if they lived happily ever after or something. You’d think they could at least read it before condemning it.
- on October 30, 2012 at 1:48 pm | Reply Peter Galen Massey
  
  I will give casual “Lolita” readers two half-excuses for that. The first is that HH does a good job of ignoring Lolita’s pain for much of the book, and of course it’s written from his perspective. The second is Lolita’s own resilience. By all rights, she should be broken by the end of the novel. Instead, she’s beat up, but she’s on her feet. Which makes it appear, perhaps, that HH’s crimes aren’t as serious as they are. Humbert admits it himself at the end, saying he deserves 30 years or more for rape. (He does excuse himself from killing Quilty, however.) Thanks for stopping by.