Lolita

By: Vladimir Nabokov

Narrated by: Jeremy Irons

Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins

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

Captivating Ugly Horror Story

I appreciate Vladimir Nabokov's writing style in this story. The author Vladimir Nabokov is such a talented writer. He writes an ugly horror story in an elegant way, making made the story captivating. The “pretty writing” of something so tragic and disturbing intensifies the story’s sinister plot.

Lolita is brilliantly written but it is NOT a beautiful love story. In fact, this isn't a “love story” at all! It is a disgusting horror story about a pedophile man named Humbert who kidnaps and sexually abuses a 12-year-old girl which eventually leads Lolita to be robbed of having a good life.

The literary element of Humbert being an unreliable narrator was written very well. As a writer, I found it so creatively written that Vladimir Nabokov wrote the unreliable narrator as a dishonest and impaired narrator by showing that Humbert's memory is not defective, shy about writing his transgressions to paper.

From the beginning, I was disgusted with Humbert and the pretty writing never made me feel sympathetic to him. Instead, my heart breaks for Lolita. Even if I didn't like the premise of the story and even though I was very uncomfortable with the subject matter, I was never bored. I will always remember this book but I will never read it again.

Why isn’t this tagged as “horror”.

It’s incomprehensible how it’s tagged “funny”, “witty” or even “heartfelt”. The inability of so many people to uncritically accept Humbert’s account at face value explains why it’s so difficult to prosecute SA offenders in real-life.

A hard ride to cope with

It’s incredibly well narrated both in performance and writing which makes this book so hard to endure. I won’t ever read it again but I won’t need to, every page is pretty unforgettable.

Beautiful Writing!

The subject matter can be tough to get through at times but you have to remind yourself from where the perspective is coming. I’ve rarely heard more beautiful ways of stating things & the performance is incredible. I highly recommend it!

unbelievable

Sick, twisted, beautiful, This has been my favorite audible listen. Jeremy Irons should read every book.

Great writing and narrator, gets boring

The first part of the book is interesting but it just gets boring after that. Weak ending as well

The sadness. And reality. Of. Lolita

I liked the whole story it was raw and lonely for both characters how disturbing

An Absolutely Gorgeous Audible Experience

I have tried to read LOLITA on several occassions, but for whatever reason--probably the dull, midwest monotony of my internal reading voice--have put the book down. I purchased LOLITA (read by Jeremy Irons) with a sense of trepidation (had I just bought something I would never finish?) The book is as impressive as the critics will tell you. Nabokov's language, his ability to fully render a scene, his mind-boggling vocabularly, and his characters--those desperate and beautiful and horrible creatures--are like nothing else in the canon of fiction. Add to this the luxurious experience of Jeremy Irons' voice and you end up with a book--a reading--that will make you shake your head in awe.

Nabokov Narrated with Subtlety

This audiobook is completely sustained by the superb and finely attuned narration of Jeremy Irons. While Lolita is and remains a classic of 20th Century literature, this production will allow you to see [hear] a completely new perspective. Irons takes you completely inside the mind of Humbert Humbert, and with skill and subtlety makes you loathe him and sympathize with him at the same time. His tremulous and unspeakable desire mixed with his engulfing shame, his cowardice and his bravery standing side by side, his disregard of social norms tempered by his utter need for secrecy -- all of these conflicts are roiling beneath the surface of the story as it unfolds. This is a performance that only the finest of actors could pull off.

The reading was really good!

Really good performance of the narrator. The book was beautifully written but it's still kind of disturbing if you think of it on a general term: a child molesting middle aged man. Ugh! But I think it's a good book. Not sure I'll recommend it to my friends to read though.