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

Surprising good reading

This book's subject matter is admitedly an unsavory one to most, however, it is considered in some circles to be a "classic" work and so I resigned myself to reading it. I am glad that I did. I was surprised at how completely I was drawn into the story. This book is very well written and deserving of the serious reader's consideration.

Surprisingly good

I don't know what I was thinking when I thought about buying this one. The cover made me feel like a pervert. I saw the movie some years back and I remember not liking it. It was just a bad movie, in my opinion. Jeremy Irons was the main character in the movie and I found it interesting that he is the reader of this book. He has a pleasing voice and his talents shine here, much more so then when he played the role of the main character. The book is considered the #4 best written of the 20th Century and was ultimately the reason I was able to put away my initial disgust and ultimately buy it. A flimsy reason really, I know. I was surprised how much I liked it. The characters story was engaging in a pathetic sort of way. He is trapped by his own fatal flaw(everyone has them but his is certainly disgusting) and I have to admit it was fascinating to hear his thoughts, his justifications and in the end his regret. I found the overall story entertaining but I was at times repulsed by it. Still, I do believe in the general consensus that this is one of the best books of the 20th Century, even if the subject matter made me squirm.

Written like poetry, read like poetry

An engaging, beautiful scripted book. The reader sounds like a clasically trained actor and he speaks it as though he's thinking it up himself. The best audiobook yet!

If you can stomach the subject matter...go for it

Would you listen to Lolita again? Why?

I don't think I would listen to the book again. BUT, that's not because it wasn't a great book. It is a very compelling story. There is a lot of rich detail. I had no idea where the story was going to end up when the book began. Just a great work of fiction. But, this book is like every pedophiles wet dream and I just couldn't handle it. The book itself was like 5hours or so..and it took me about 2weeks to get through. I had to keep stopping and walking away from it. It was just too morbid for my tastes.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Well, there are only a few characters in the book. But I have to say Lolita was my favorite...she's a precocious, snappy, little kid.

Which character – as performed by Jeremy Irons – was your favorite?

HH

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

No...see above

Lolita Review

There are so many references to this book (I recommend "Reading Lolita in Tehran") I had to "read" it. It was very vivid and disturbing. I was not prepared for the extent to which it was. It was beautifully written for the most part. It was about twice as long as it needed to be and the ending was very confusing. If you want to spend some time in the mind of a pediphile - this is your book. Even if you don't - this was very interesting.

Surprisingly good

I downloaded this book simply because Jeremy Irons was the author, without realising the controversial topic. I listened with trepidation for the first hour, and more than once felt uncomfortable enough to check to see how long until the end of the book, and to wonder if I'd make it through the whole thing. In the end I'm glad I did.

The story is one that happens all over the world in one shape or another, every single day. It's confronting and that makes people uncomfortable. My heart bled for Lola, and, one of the reasons the book was palatable in the end, I had no positive or sympathetic emotions for humbert at all.

The ending was a bit disappointing, but the novel was well written.

Worth reading, although some bits are hard to handle. I am very glad that there were no explicit scenes, and upon finishing the book it's clear that the only scene that came close to being explicit had to be included or the book would not have worked.

couldn't finish it

The writing is beautiful. It really is. It's a classic, that many of my favorite authors love so I tried to get through it... but working with kids constantly and knowing some adults that suffered for years trying to overcome being sexually abused as a child... I couldn't deal with being in the mind of a child predator. It's very vivid, I get why it's a classic, it's just not for me and as much as I usually try to be open minded, subject matter wise, I'm ok with letting this one go.

Nabokov! Jeremy Irons!

I'd read Lolita on my own years ago but couldn't pass up the chance at hearing this as read by Jeremy Irons. It was worth it. From the infamous first line, Irons' rich velvety voice gliding over Nabokov's beautiful, stunning prose is a masterful combination.

Regardless of the exquisite language use by Nabokov, Lolita is a disturbing and tragic story. Not even the pleasantness of Irons' voice can disguise just how repulsive the narrator truly is. Yet, Nabokov writes Humbert Humbert with depth and even (a little) room for sympathy. Likewise, Irons captures this and gives HH a sense of humanity.

Beautiful and disturbing

This was incredibly disturbing for me as a father of a young girl. But it is beautifully written it was just a bitter subject for me to hear. He narrator was amazing

Well, hmmmm, expertly crafted

Just wow. I had to keep reminding myself it's a comedy. Book club members had quite interestingly different negative reactions including disparaging Miss Haze. Seriously what up with that?

Anyway if you force yourself to finish you will appreciate the intellect and wit of the author and the fierce talent of Jeremy Irons. If you're going yo stop, stop early. Otherwise see it thru and don't skip the forward.