Prime logo Prime members: New to Audible?
Get 2 free audiobooks during trial.
Pick 1 audiobook a month from our unmatched collection.
Listen all you want to thousands of included audiobooks, Originals, and podcasts.
Access exclusive sales and deals.
Premium Plus auto-renews for $14.95/mo after 30 days. Cancel anytime.
Lolita  By  cover art

Lolita

By: Vladimir Nabokov
Narrated by: Jeremy Irons
Try for $0.00

$14.95/month after 30 days. Cancel anytime.

Buy for $18.86

Buy for $18.86

Pay using card ending in
By confirming your purchase, you agree to Audible's Conditions of Use and Amazon's Privacy Notice. Taxes where applicable.

Publisher's summary

The most famous and controversial novel from one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century tells the story of Humbert Humbert’s obsessive, devouring, and doomed passion for the nymphet Dolores Haze.

"The conjunction of a sense of humor with a sense of horror [results in] satire of a very special kind."
—The New Yorker

Awe and exhilaration—along with heartbreak and mordant wit—abound in Lolita, which tells the story of the aging Humbert Humbert's obsession for the nymphet Dolores Haze. Lolita is also the story of a hypercivilized European colliding with the cheerful barbarism of postwar America.

Most of all, it is a meditation on love—love as outrage and hallucination, madness and transformation.

(P)2005 Random House, Inc. Random House Audio, a division of Random House, Inc.

Critic reviews

One of TIME Magazine's All-Time 100 Novels

"Lolita blazes with a perversity of a most original kind. For Mr. Nabokov has distilled from his shocking material hundred-proof intellectual farce…Lolita seems an assertion of the power of the comic spirit to wrest delight and truth from the most outlandish materials. It is one of the funniest serious novels I have ever read; and the vision of its abominable hero, who never deludes or excuses himself, brings into grotesque relief the cant, the vulgarity, and the hypocritical conventions that pervade the human comedy." —The Atlantic Monthly

"Intensely lyrical and wildly funny." —Time

"The only convincing love story of our century." —Vanity Fair

Featured Article: 65+ Quotes About Love from Much-Loved Authors


While saying "I love you" speaks volumes, there are times when you yearn to express your feelings for a loved one—whether a cherished friend, serious crush, or your soul mate—in a way that's more creative, more eloquent, more memorable...in a word: quotable. For those times, there's no better source to turn to than great authors. We've collected some of most tender, most romantic, and most passionate quotes from the world's most-loved authors.

What listeners say about Lolita

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    7,370
  • 4 Stars
    2,299
  • 3 Stars
    937
  • 2 Stars
    335
  • 1 Stars
    319
Performance
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    8,008
  • 4 Stars
    924
  • 3 Stars
    304
  • 2 Stars
    101
  • 1 Stars
    138
Story
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
  • 5 Stars
    5,839
  • 4 Stars
    1,962
  • 3 Stars
    932
  • 2 Stars
    349
  • 1 Stars
    328

Reviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.

Sort by:
Filter by:
  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

Had no idea this book is about pedophilia

Have heard "Lolita" references my whole life always in the context of a seductive younger girl.

That's not what this book is about. It's about an actual child molester and the part I listened to was very disturbing.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    1 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    1 out of 5 stars

disgusting

little girls! how can I remove this book from my library? how can I get credit back?

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Classic for a reason

Some of it was a bit wordy, but Jeremy Irons is a great voice actor, and it would have been hard for anyone to write a story about this subject as well as Nabokov

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Captivating and twisted

This books opening chapters are absolutely entrancing. The writers rich and deep vocabulary are excellently captured by the narrator to form an image clearer than ones eyes could give. Jeremy Irons rivals only himself while narrating this novel as he did acting as H.H. in the movie remake. Though a taboo and unsettling portrayal of actions taken by a man unto his "Lolita", the reader (at least me) can't help but pity H.H., and even at times wish him to prevail in happily betrothing Lolita at some future time. The tragedy I found however, was his twisted motives only produced compounding damage to "his Lolita" despite convoluted well intensions. Despite H.H. being a monster of a character, I cannot help but feel remorse for his tragic life. I encourage any reader to read/listen to this book and endure the words with as much connection as I did.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Wonderful!!!!!

The best reading I have ever heard. I love this story so much. Truly wonderful!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

unexpectedly great story

The writing itself was alluring. I just wanted to see why the book had a bad stigma, and ended up enjoying it more than I should have.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

Lolita narrated by Jeremy Irons? SIGN ME UP!

One of the best novels in literature, narrated by the legendary Jeremy Irons? We'll sign me up!
The book alone is amazing, but teamed up with Jeremy Irons amazing voice is just a whole new level.

Lolita is not for everyone, but one must understand that this is fiction, and also must understand that in the old times young wife's were not that unusual, quiet the opposite, girls were married at a really young age, 10-15... by the time they were 14 some even had children. Today you gotta be 18, it's all social laws.. of course it's wrong, but it depends on society...
But once you get past those things what you will have is a beautiful story of a heartbroken men trying to live in the past because of his love.

What I love the most about Lolita is Nabokovs writing style. it's so amazing. he writes with STYLE and CLASS, which is a rare thing. The way he uses uses words, twists sentences reminds me of the way people talked in the early 1900's. Magnificent. Recommend it to everyone!

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    5 out of 5 stars

loved it

book was great, lived up to the hype. I wish people wouldn't romanticize the toxic and disgusting relationship. Jeremy Irons was great. xx ♡

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

So did not end how I thought while listening.

This was as crazy and good a story as I heard. If it wasn't for Irons smooth voice I don't know if I would've made it to the end. I did though and the end didn't go how I thought while listening in the middle of the relationship and imagining on why and how he ended up on trial.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
  • Performance
    5 out of 5 stars
  • Story
    4 out of 5 stars

I simultaneously want to give 1 star and 5 stars.

The book was beautifully written and the performance was riveting. The writing style was dreamy, driven, filled with language that seems to swim and fly, and expertly utilizes alliteration and assonance to achieve a stunning creation. Nabokov uses these beautiful words to describe a horrifying story of pedophilia, kidnapping, and rape. The story of Lolita is utterly captivating, and I cannot recommend it.

Something went wrong. Please try again in a few minutes.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful