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

Amazing book

I really wasn't interested in this book, but it was on a list of must read novels. so I got it on a 2 for 1 sale and it was great. Jeremy Irons does an amazing job. The book is interesting.

10/10 for narration.

I have not seen the movie yet with Jeremy Irons but his performance here was phenomenal. I don’t think there’s a person out there that could do a better job.

It's Jeremy Irons, what else do you need

I'd honestly pay to listen to Jeremy Irons read the backs of cereal boxes, so listening to him read some of the best prose every written is a no-brainer. I would honestly say that this audiobook is the best way to experience this novel.

"And the sun was on her lips"

I absolutely love Lolita, it is a very controversial book to most but by far, my favorite. I, especially love that it is narrated by Jeremy Irons.

Disturbing and yet amazing.

The narration is flawless, the story is disturbing but brilliant it's hard to imagine but the brutal and dark reality behind the protagonists mind comes to life. I'm not sure if I should hate or pity Humbert Humbert, it's a true portrait of a dark human soul.

my favorite narration

I thought I knew this book, but Jeremy Irons's narration opened up so many facets and nuances that I had never considered before. it really felt like I was hearing the book for the first time. the effect was and is overwhelming. still feeling the after-effects.

Disturbing but captivating

I knew what I was getting into regarding the topic. This book was so beautifully written, though. I would absolutely NEVER have been able to listen to this with anyone else present. The glorification and sexualization of a child already made me too uncomfortable, but sharing that discomfort with someone else is something I would not choose to do, and so I did not. I was very ready for the book to be over about 3/4 in, but then it picked up again. I had to finish--of that there was no doubt. I recommend if you've got the stomach for the topic.

A hypnotic and captivating rendering of a modern classic

Jeremy Irons is resplendent in his performance as the narrator Humbert Humbert. He embodies the narrator’s voice and carries each nuance of irony, each sarcasm, each cruel and jealous rage lightly on his shoulders. Each tendril of the narrator’s resplendent vocabulary shimmers in the perfection of its enunciation as the vine of this story reaches toward its inevitable terminus. I couldn’t imagine another actor doing justice to this story and I’m so glad that I own the book now. I’m certain I’ll listen through more than just a few times. (I honestly wonder how many times I’ll have to listen to this book before I’d rather listen to some stupid podcast instead of revisiting it. 10? 15?) The French bits and bobs here and there are the only weak link in the reading, I think, but we can forgive Jeremy Irons a tinge of an anglophone accent. I wouldn’t have done any better.

As to the quality of the story itself, I’ve always found the ending to be a little overly sentimental and that the character Humbert Humbert was more goaded into the grand finale by Nabokov’s pen than as an inevitable consequence of the character’s constitution and predicament. But, the story did have to end eventually and I suppose that ending it in a less-than-obvious kind of way is a bit more satisfying somehow. Still, the final chapters do drag on a bit for me and I wish some other plot twist would have won out in the writer’s mind and that the book had been ushered to its conclusion differently and, most importantly, in a way that was more consistent with the character we’d been shown throughout the bulk of the book.

Amazing

I love this story and could never read the book all the way through so when I discovered audible back in 2014 this was the first book I picked for my free book. It took me years to remember I had this audiobook and I never thought I'd enjoy audiobooks. I most recently remembered I had this and have finally listened to the whole thing over a couple days. I absolutely love Jeremy Irons as a narrator, and wish there was more then a couple other things read by him on this site. He tells the story with such passion and you find yourself immersed in the story like you're a fly on the wall listening and watching. He also play the character Humbert Humbert in a movie about this book which you can find through looking at his Wikipedia page. I saw the movie before the book, but in my opinion this made the book being read by him all the better. Also to clarify I don't mean Kubrick's Lolita I mean the one starring Jeremy Irons. Both of the movies are fantastic, but I'd hate to someone to mix the two up. Highly recommend this book.

Disturbing but good read

I love Jeremy Irons voice so much! The book overall was good just a little weird since he’s her stepfather but I would 100% read again!!