Lolita

By: Vladimir Nabokov

Narrated by: Jeremy Irons

Length: 11 hrs and 28 mins

Publisher's summary

Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta.'

LOLITA is the story of Humbert Humbert, poet and pervert, and his obsession with twelve-year-old Dolores Haze. Determined to possess his 'Lolita' both carnally and artistically, Humbert embarks on a disastrous courtship that can only end in tragedy.

Initially, Nabokov was unable to find an American publisher willing to take the book on. It was finally published in Paris in 1954 but its notoriety spread quickly. Graham Green, in an interview in THE TIMES later that year, called it 'one of the best books of 1954'. When G.P. Putnam's Sons published in the US in 1958, it was a bestseller; the first book since Gone with the Wind to sell 100,000 copies in the first three weeks of publication.

©1955 Vladimir Nabokov (P)2005 Random House Audio

A Literary Symphony...

...Composed Within That Magical Place Called Genius. Very few books are like the universe's hand reaching down to grab hold of you, to yank you up by the soul and bring you into its absolute grandeur, where you are truly left in nothing but awe. This literary masterpiece does just that.

I tried not to sympathise, I really did.

First of all, Jeremy Iron’s performance is devilishly brilliant. I cannot imagine that anyone could have done a better job. It was like watching the movie, but better. His voice and diction were part of what made you want to listen and care for this troubled character.

Phenomenal storytelling. Without giving the plot away, I want to say that the brilliance of this novel is the way beauty and ugliness, humour and sadness, tenderness and violence, exist in an inexplicable harmony. Nabokov’s words appear to bounce off this novel like a poem. Almost like you can see them dancing along, whirling and hypnotising, to a strange song that you fixate on and feel it’s rhythm.

This novel is a mushroom cloud: so beautiful and destructive. And it is nothing but sheer terror, but you can’t look away.

I managed to keep a clear head about the character, and I succeeded, right up until the final minutes of the book, where a pang of the deepest sadness, his sadness, that Gad need slowly building up over the course of this novel, overtook me.

Wonderful narrative

I struggled at the beginning of the book, with the never ending narrative, with no 'speech', but stuck with it an was very pleased I did. Jeremy Irons' narration was great... How could one fail to like his voice? I am also pleased to have discovered Nabokov, as his blend of wit and darkness was wonderful. Excellent.

Perfect

Perfect! Nabokov a giant in literature. Great performance by the reader. Captivating story and engaging language it is worth your time.

Narration raising an authors game?

Would you recommend this audiobook to a friend? If so, why?

A wonderful book of great literary significance read by a remarkable narrator/actor. I was never once doubting of the central character who's complex personality was admirably portrayed by Irons.

Who was your favorite character and why?

The central character.

What does Jeremy Irons bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

A remarkable rendition of this classic work. A huge talented narration perhaps equal to this great piece of writing. Like Shakespeare performed by the National Theatre. It amply raises this book by making it accessible to many who may have struggled because of its complexity, in addition to the authors intended confusion of reality and paranoia of the mentally insane...or was he?.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

Lolita is a classic, a narrative that crosses the social line but never alienates its reader because of it.

Any additional comments?

Great literature, great rendition. Irons nailed it!

Great Performance

The narrator of the story (not foreword) is awesome. The plot is a tragedy of a stolen childhood. It will stay with me for very long, and I take away valuable lessons from it.

Find yourself inside an utterly different mind

This book puts you inside a mind which is completely foreign to your own and at odds with society. It manages the interior of that mind so that it makes sense within its own walls. And it manages the boundary between these two worlds so that that perverse world can sustain itself. That is quite an accomplishment on its own. But it's also beautifully written.

The narration is excellent in my opinion. Could be a bit too flat for some but I think it's a deliberate and good choice. It renders the abhorrent unremarkable.

Needless to say a masterpiece

Jeremy Irons' perfect performance, Nabokov's untouchable, eloquent prose, deeply uncomfortable subject matter. What more could you ask for?
Don't hesitate.

Dazzling. One of the few true masterpieces of literature.

Lolita deserves multiple readings, and I say ‘readings’ because after you listen to this masterful, pitch-perfect performance by Jeremy Irons, you’ll want to marvel at Nabokov’s spellbinding words on the printed page, and you’ll see how much you missed. It’ll be like reading the book for the first time. I highly recommend The Annotated Lolita, which reveals so many more layers to this intricately crafted tale. Lolita is tragedy, parody, laugh out loud comedy, a marvelous road trip, a massive word game, and one of the most moving love stories of all time. I can’t recommend any book more highly than Lolita.

Astonishing for 1955

Beautifully read by Jeremy Irons, Humbert is endearing despite his monstrosity, happily is still as confronting if not more now than when it was written