A Reader's Guide to Nabokov's 'Lolita'

by Julian Connolly

Overview

One of the most fascinating and controversial novels of the twentieth century, Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita is renown for its innovative style and notorious for its subject matter and influence on popular culture. A Reader’s Guide to Nabokov’s “Lolita” carries readers through the intricacies of Nabokov’s work and helps them achieve a better understanding of his rich artistic design. The book opens with a detailed chronology of Nabokov’s life and literary career. Chapters include an analysis of the novel, a discussion of its precursors in Nabokov’s work and in world literature, an essay on the character of Dolly Haze (Humbert’s “Lolita”), and a commentary on the critical and cultural afterlife of the novel. The volume concludes with an annotated bibliography of selected critical reading. The guide should prove illuminating both for first-time readers of Lolita and for experienced re-readers of Nabokov’s classic work.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9781934843666
Publisher:	Academic Studies Press
Publication date:	09/01/2009
Series:	Studies in Russian and Slavic Literatures, Cultures, and History
Pages:	208
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.10(h) x 0.50(d)

About the Author

Julian W. Connolly (Ph.D. Harvard University) is Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Virginia. He is the author of Nabokov's Early Fiction: Patterns of Self and Other (1992) and editor of Nabokov and His Fiction: New Perspectives (1999) and The Cambridge Companion to Nabokov (2005). He has published over sixty articles on Russian Literature.

Table of Contents

Abbreviations. Chronology of Nabokov’s Life and Career. Chronology of Lolita. Preface. Chapter One. The Creation of Lolita. Notes. Chapter Two. The Precursors of Lolita. Notes. Chapter Three. Approaching Lolita. Notes. Chapter Four. Who Was Dolly Haze? Notes. Chapter Five. Humbert’s Memoir, Nabokov’s Novel: A Reader’s Analysis. Foreword. Part One. Part Two. Notes. Chapter Six. Lolita’s Afterlife: Critical and Cultural Responses. Critical Reception. Cultural Responses. Notes. A Guide to Further Reading in English. Index.

Editorial Reviews

"The importance of this book lies in the way it succinctly summarizes critical viewpoints yet provides a fresh and accessible interpretation of the novel… [Connolly] never claims to give a definitive reading of the book, only to try to help readers "grasp the full complexity and sweep of Nabokov's unique creation" (p.1), which he admirably achieves."

The Russian Review - Jason Merrill

"The importance of this book lies in the way it succinctly summarizes critical viewpoints yet provides a fresh and accessible interpretation of the novel… [Connolly] never claims to give a definitive reading of the book, only to try to help readers "grasp the full complexity and sweep of Nabokov's unique creation" (p.1), which he admirably achieves." -- Jason Merrill, Michigan State University, published in the Russian Review

From the Publisher