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It’s been ages since I read a historical fiction book so I have decided to add to this blog my impressions about non-history books read in English. The first book I read in 2020 was “Lolita” by Vladimir Nabokov. This is a great work of fiction and I had a chance to read it both in English and in Russian. However I chose English – and I will explain the reasons below.
Vladimir Nabokov is a Russian by origin , but he has long lived in Europe and the USA. Some of his works are written in Russian, but “Lolita” was originally written in English. I did not know that and when I checked the Russian version, I was just entangled in the very complicated text. Some physical descriptions were nauseos, I did not like the Russian transcripions of the American places (Ramsdale and the like). But mostly I was just skipping through a lot of words to the core, because when we read in the native language, we tend to read fast.
Therefore I decided to give a try to the original English version, and it proved the right choice! Some things which sound so meaningful in English (I am guilty of killing Quilty for example, Dolores HAZE) were almost lost in translation. The word “nymphet” sounds in English like a butterfly’s development stage, in Russian “нимфетка” sounds like “coquette” and has a bit of contemptuous and diminutive note. In English, I read the book slowly and this pace perfectly suits Nabokov’s style!
Just a side note – the paper book I bought (you can see its image on the left) was weird – it lacked the introduction – foreword in which we know that both Humbert Humbert and Lolita already died, and the book itself was so badly glued so its pages got separated from each other very soon, and it was completely to pieces!
Plot and my impressions. “Lolita” is a multi-layer book which you can hardly call “nice”. It contains a lot of puzzles and literary allusions as Vladimir Nabokov, its author, was a chess player, scientist and highly educated person. To me, it’s a story of a person who can be hardly called sane. It is both repulsive and attractive. A deep introvert bearing his secrets inside him, and at last imprisoned by his own lust. The second part of the book is even more mysterious than the first. Some critics think the second part is an illusion of Humbert Humbert who made it up in the asylim while the girl he possessed (Lolita) died of some infection in the hospital. If not, the second part is really beautiful. It shows how the lust can become love, and how the coward may turn into lion. This does not mean I approve Humbert Humbert’s actions. But the scenes of him and pregnant Lolita, or Quilty’s killing captivated me and I consider them best in the novel. It was courageous of the author to include them in the end of the book (most people quit books in the very beginning, and the beginning may seem bleak in comparison with the end).
The note by the author was a real surprise to me. With the novels like “Lolita“, I prefer to read the book itself than the critical works on it. I never knew that publishing houses to whom Nabokov has posted his book originally, complained that the book had too few sexy scenes. And one of them even wanted “Lolita” to be a guy, and Humbert Humbert to be gay!
I cannot but mention that the name of the novel is the biggest puzzle to me because despite it’s called “Lolita“, it tells us very little of the girl’s mind – this is actually a story of Humbert Humbert who came across a teenage girl and changed (ruined) her life. Modern writers would surely write it in a different way – say, Dolores’ granndaughter would find Humbert’s diary and wonder which “skeletons in the cupboard” their family has. The story would have a family secret, a mysterious death, a villain, a person suffering of guilt and willing to confess, a love union in the present. Modern author would surely show the situation with the eyes of both Humbert Humbert and Lolita. Luckily Nabokov is not a modern author! And just because the most part of the book is “written by Humbert Humbert”, it’s difficult not to “symphatize” with him in the end though he was not behaving right!
This novel came out a complete suprise to me, and it showed to me the nature of passion – where it can come from and how it can be expressed. It also reminded that if a passion is devoid of love, and people cannot communicate normally, it will certainly have a tragic end!