If you're a student, please do not hesitate to reach out to your professors when you feel uncomfortable reading a book. You will be surprised to see how much many of them understand❤‍🩹

Lolita is NOT kidnapped

I found Ada to be very difficult to read. Lolita I found thrilling and enlivening to read. Its set my mind aflame. And that is what makes it the most unnerving novel I have ever read. Martin Amis said something along these lines, that many novels through history were controversial because they challenged the conventions of the time, which needed to be challenged. However, Lolita is a novel about something that can never be redeemed, being about the grooming, kidnapping and rape of a child. It took me more than one reading to notice the moments of suffering of Lolita. Humbert is a pederast and a narcissist. He erases Lolita totally. He writes with the aesthetic beauty of a genius and angel, yet he writes to erase the actions of a devil and a rapist. The morality of Lolita is located here. And yet it is unnerving. It seduces us aesthetically. It involves us in the thrill of Humbert's voice, which is witty, rapturous, infinitely full of life and aesthetic transcendence and brilliant. And yet we are unnervingly seduced into this narcissist erasure of innocence and suffering. The misery of Lolita is erased by the narcissist rapist, who 'loses' to another pederast rapist who Lolita escapes with. And finally, her death in childbirth. It is a tragedy, that is glimpsed only when we see beyond the aesthetic justification of it all by Humbert. In a wider sense, I try and think of what emotional landscape led to this poise. Nabokov witnessed atrocity covered up and justified by apologists for the Bolsheviks who sent his family into exile. This is just speculation. We can never know what hinterland within the subconscious gives birth to genius. But Lolita is unnerving in a way no other novel is.

This was a great literary analysis! I’ve never read Lolita myself as I had been apprehensive toward it, though I’ve heard others’ analyses before and found them interesting. Your video has finally convinced me that I need to read the book for myself. I am a psychology student so the psychological nature of the book is very intriguing to me in particular. You’ve brought up some interesting points in this video, I can’t wait to explore them further in my own reading.

Your way of speaking is very nice to listen to, I really enjoyed your video!

Happy belated Independence Day mrs Eva . Iam Arabic lady subscriber to British and American YouTube channels. I sent comments to you from long times . Thank you for your wonderful cultural channel.

thank you so much for a new video.

After multiple attempts throughout the years, I finally listened to an audiobook of Lolita read by Jeremy Irons who also plays the main character in the movie. It was actually amazing. He brought so much personality to the character that by the end, I was conflicted about my feelings about him (as intended by the author).

And now I want to re-read it 😊

An excellent analysis!

well said. 🌻

It's refreshing to see someone who notices all the ugly stuff that Humbert confesses to outside of what he did to Dolores.

I think that the novel is heavily inspired by Crime and Punishment and Humbert is a type of character that considers himself an ubermensch who then is led by the author to the conclusion he's just a monster.

My view is that the book isn't about Humbert manipulating the reader, but Humbert manipulating himself to convince himself to not hate himself and that his paedophilia is good and then Nabokov subjecting him to a sequence of events that proves him wrong.

Fun fact, this book isn't written to be presented to the jury. It was supposed to be read after he and Dolores and Humbert and also I think that Humbert simply doesn't care how the reader sees him, that's why he constantly gives out information that shows him in worst light, casts doubt at his own thoughts, etc.
For example he tells the story of Anabell and then says he isn't sure if he became a paedophile because of the trauma or if he was madly in love with Anabell because she was the "right age".

Lots of Humberts statements refer to what he was thinking and how he was explaining things to himself at specific point of time.

Humbert has a basic problem of being unable to control his impulses around Dolores - something that he's sharing with the protagonist of the Enchanter.

The difference is that it results in Dolores being convinced that they are lovers while in the Enchanter it results in the victim screaming in terror.

The part where he says "it was she who seduced me" was basically a joke because he had this great ubermensch plan of exploiting her without her being aware and was actively trying to put her to sleep and have his way with her and then it turned out she's interested in him.

It's certain that Humbert went way further than she wanted and also he sucks in bed.

Another thing that immediately after the event, he starts blackmailing her. Like he was completely unprepared for dealing with her as a person.

Like what's funny about Humbert is that he sucks at what he does. Like he doesn't groom her, doesn't do stuff like telling her that she's exceptional, that she's mature for her age and other stuff that creeps do. He just has his special plan and also no self-control.

The basic problem with the great manipulator theory is that he's really basic at his doing - he's mainly just lying but if he would really be that great manipulator the story would end with Dolores being in love with Humbert and being suddenly surprised that she aged out.

One thing I wonder is if Humbert snapped after Anabell died - like he describes having almost spiritual connection to her and then he describes becoming cold after she died.
I wonder if his narcissism and sociopathy and inability to connect are a result of trauma.

Then there's another weird part where he claims that he has no problem having sex with adult women, he just finds girl-children in specific age range to have a special appeal. That suggests that he's not a real paedophile but rather a fetishist, which sort of makes the whole thing even worse.

Leí el libro a finales de mis 20's o inicios de mis 30's; hace una década, aproximadamente.
Me has hecho reflexionar críticamente sobre el mismo y sobre mí. Gracias.

Thank you so much for this video! I read Lolita when I was 16 and I believe it will be a completely different experience now that I'm 11 years older.

Absolutely enlightening, couldn't agree more with everything you say! Thank you

Its not hard. Its a masterpiece

I've always given this novel a wide berth. After watching your video, I feel that as uncomfortable a read i know it'll be, I should give this a go. After all, I'm basing my thoughts on the complaints and those who hated the book but never read it!! One day, maybe I'll get to it!! Thank you for a great video, and it's lovely to see you again!!xx

Brilliant analysis, thank you.

Your videos are great👏

welcome back :)

We should consider HH a criminal in court, and this book a plea to us the Jury.

If majority of readers manage to fall for it and consider it a love story or justify HH, then we have failed as a society, we’ve let HH manipulate our thoughts.

And looking at how Lolita is viewed in general, I think we got there a long time back. 😞