The Annotated Lolita

A Modern Classic

I highly recommend the annotated version of Lolita. Appel's notes on the book bring the full genius of Nabokov's writing to the reader, as well as making a lot of the literary references and French clear. It is easy to be disgusted to distraction by Humbert Humbert, but the humor of the novel kept me reading.

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A true amazing masterpiece of the century!!!

This novel is definitely a must read. The story is very well written & captivating, that you never want it to end.

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Expert guidance through a literary masterpiece

The book is a marvelous, well-crafted work of art. The annotations provide guidance, discussion, clarification, edification, and entertainment - and will be helpful to those who enjoy reading good literature but did not study literature in college. This is heavily annotated, with a lengthy inroduction. Annotations range from 'typographical error corrected in 1958 edition' to page-long explanations of literary allusions, and even statistics. Annotations are all collected at the end, so you may read the book through the first time without being interrupted by Appel's explanations. Appel was a student of Nabokov's and interviewed Nabokov extensively for these annotations. Read the introduction after you read the book - you'll get more out of the introduction.

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Feelings toward this book

At first I was skeptical about reading this book for a class, but it turned out to be a pretty interesting read. Humbert Humbert has a way of captivating the reader by this story with his choice of words. I other instances, he actually makes us feel sorry that he feels so strongly about such a young girl.
This is a story about a forbidden love and even a tragic obsession. It allows the reader to be able to look into the eyes of HH and embark on this controversial journey with him. Interesting read!

Students will benefit

I had to read this book for a summer class and I must admit that it was a creepy, yet interesting surprise. I liked the annotated version because I got a better understanding of what I was reading. I would suggest this book for college classes. It'll help students better understand the story and all its creepiness.

A Magnificent Classic

This great story was very captivating. Nabokov writing was brilliant. Especially the annoted book that had plenty of discussion, clarification, edification of the author, as well as guides,& entertainment. A real page turner.

The tale is about a middle age man Humbert Humbert fasination of this young girl Lolita. So this frecnh scholar met Lolita through her Mother/ his landlord & then wife Charlotte Haze. So Humbert married Charlotte to be closer to her daughter. But soon the tables turn on Humbert to his advantage when he and Lolita start their relationship. Which does start passionately & wild, but does not have a sweet romantic ending. From all their ups and downs which was amazingly expressed without sounding cheap and dirty.

The only way to read "Lolita"

For a full understanding of this deep novel it is almost mandatory to have annotations unless one has an incredibly wide vocabulary and a good working knowledge of French and German idioms. The book is beautiful, frightening, sad and at times entertainingly humerous.It covers a subject which most of society would rather assume doesn't exist, but which exists nonetheless in the minds of everyone, to a certain degree. This is a novel about base human nature, unrestrained by the mores of the moment. It is also a true love story set in an "elected paradise with a sky the color of hell flames".

This book is great!

I bought this book and read it in 3 days!! It is awesome!!

To the Gentlewomen of the Jury...

Nabokov's masterwork, Lolita, is a confession to the sexual abuse of a girl named Dolores Haze, nicknamed "Lolita", from her stepfather Humbert Humbert. Lolita, in itself, is a painting, not of its protagonist Humbert , but of his obsession, his life, and his victim. It is a portrait of bubblegum, uniforms, bicycles, old cars, whispered secrets, cheap motels, tennis rackets, comic strips, hidden nickels, true love and, ultimately, complete and utter desolation.

Humbert Humbert rightly begins at the beginning, with his first Lolita or, to put it in his words, the "precursor" of Lolita. He talks of the summer of his 14th year, and the romance he has with a fellow teen named "Annabel Leigh". The story is fraught with allusions to Poe's "Annabel Leigh" since many of their trysts occur "by the sea" and the story ends with Annabel Leigh's death. However, Annabel Leigh is always described strictly in the terms of Lolita. How Humbert remembers Annabel Leigh, how Annabel Leigh looks, how he feels about Annabel Leigh is all described in the context of Lolita. Humbert makes it clear that there would be no Lolita without a crushing loss of Annabel, but she is completely eclipsed by Lolita. Humbert comes to rent a room from Lolita's mother, and after meeting Lolita, immediately sees her as his Annabel. Overtime, he marries Lolita's mother in order to stay close to Lolita and gains custody of Lolita after her mother's death.

The diction of the book is the "fancy prose style" of its writer-supposedly Humbert himself-and regularly breaks the flowing imagery of a tender love scene or steady cadence of witty remarks with a little self-deprecating jab at its "author". Humburt regularly calls himself a "beast" and is clearly repulsed by his own nature. Humbert is trapped by his own seemingly uncontrollable impulses, and Humbert uses this to almost gain sympathy for a character normally view as a villain. Lolita is always shown in the terms of Humbert's attraction to her and is thus cursed to be forever scene only in this manner. Rarely is the avid reader able to catch a glimpse of how Humbert's imposition of "damned incest" has affected a tender little Lo, nor does the reader come near enough to her true emotions to plunge into the depths of her despair. The audience is bombarded with Humburt's Lo, Dolly, Lola, Dolores, Lolita, but never does one see Lolita as she is.

Nabokov once remarked that what inspired him to write Lolita was a newspaper article about a lab monkey. Scientists had apparently taught a monkey how to draw and the first thing the creature drew was the bars of its cage. Lolita is a tale of two characters cursed by their own circumstance, simultaneously destined to be both apart and together. One is left to wonder who, be it Lolita or Humbert, is sketching their cage. I would recommend this book to anyone, however, it is important to note that it is not an "easy read".

Not what I would choose to read.

Yes it is labeled a classic but HH is too distracting to over look. The writing style is unique and the annotations are helpful in deciphering the French text. I can say that I gave it an honest try but if it had not been chosen by my book club I never would have finished the story. Not something I would pick up to read at leisure.

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