Lolita in Bound Together

Apr 28, 2012 Chrissie rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: humor, relationships, usa, audible-us, favorites, classics

ETA: I read this book in 2012. I keep thinking about how much I enjoyed it. I have changed the rating to five stars because I feel it deserves the highest rating possible. I was too chicken to give it five before....

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I am going to tell you what I wish I had been told before reading this book. This is a memoir told from the first person point of view. I guess we all know that this book is about a pedophile, about incest. Yes it is, but it is extremely well written. A ...more

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Sep 30, 2020 ☮Karen rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: hear-hear-on-bt, classics, overdrive, audio, challenges, kindle, read-in-2020

3.5 stars for the book
4.5 for the audio version narrated by Jeremy Irons

I have wanted to read this for a long time but wasn't sure how I'd react to it because sexual exploitation of pre-teens is a trigger point. A small group of us here on Goodreads decided to do a buddy read for Banned Book Week and the PopSugar Challenge. I couldn't wait so watched the movie Lolita with Jeremy Irons, and I also listened to My Dark Vanessa, both of which prepared me for what to expect in this book. The more 3.5 stars for the book
4.5 for the audio version narrated by Jeremy Irons

I have wanted to read this for a long time but wasn't sure how I'd react to it because sexual exploitation of pre-teens is a trigger point. A small group of us here on Goodreads decided to do a buddy read for Banned Book Week and the PopSugar Challenge. I couldn't wait so watched the movie Lolita with Jeremy Irons, and I also listened to My Dark Vanessa, both of which prepared me for what to expect in this book. The more I heard about the various interpretations of the story, though, the more intimidated and confused I was.

The descriptions from published reviews, which I looked up after reading the book, varied greatly: "Sheer pornography" .... "Dark and twisted..., also a corruptly beautiful love story of two tragically alike...souls." ...."Erotic love".... "Tongue in cheek erotic novel" .... "Lolita is characterized by irony and sarcasm. It is not an erotic novel."
Novelist Robertson Davies said "The theme...is not the corruption of an innocent child by a cunning adult, but the exploitation of a weak adult by a corrupt child."

I was not sure what to think. I doubt it was love, myself. Maybe at first sight but later it was complicated. The voice of Lolita herself is not heard, only that of narrator Humbert Humbert, who she alternately accuses of rape and instructs him on new techniques. Humbert is obviously mentally disturbed, and not a narrator we can trust. He tells us she is a willing participant, but then almost as an afterthought that she sobs every night. What is to be believed is, in my opinion, up to the individual reader -- there are no known truths here.

I enjoyed the early chapters, and then the motoring across country multiple times bored me silly. Almost lost it at the beginning of Part 2 with, "Egyptian limbs folded under folds of tawny moth-eaten plush; oatmeal hills, flecked with green round oaks; a last rufous mountain with a rich rug of lucerne at its foot." Big snore. Later, Jeremy Irons' narration reached its pinnacle in the closing lines, where he gave an eerie quality to the description of Humbert's and Lo's fates.

Never before have I relied on the Kindle dictionary so much. This book is not for everyone, but it is a classic I recommend. I also recommend the audio:

I was initially averse to doing the audio because the sample of it offered on Overdrive was of the Foreword, the only part of the book where Jeremy Irons changed his voice to sound older. It was horrible to think of listening to that old decrepit version of this actor I love, sounding like his dentures were loose and clattering, for the entire book. Little did I know that that was the only chapter in which he sounded like that. So I read about 2/3 of the ebook before switching to the audio because the ebook was due back at the library. And, OMG, it was so darn good. I love his voice. I was glad, though, to have the printed words during the early chapters where I wanted to pay close attention to Nabokov's famous word play. ...more

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Nov 13, 2012 Rachel rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, classics

Where was I when I read this in college? I remember thinking the language was beautiful, and being shocked to realize I had to have the sex scene pointed out to me in class. This time it was so glaringly obvious, and oh my god! Did I change? Am I a better or more observant reader now? All I can say is that this time I was horrified at the crimes described in this novel.

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Jan 09, 2009 Irene rated it did not like it

I have to admit that I did not enjoy reading this book at all. To me, this felt like pornography. I don’t care how erudite the author, how literary the style, how fresh the use of language, how well crafted the characters, it still met my definition of pornography and I simply do not enjoy reading porn. This book depicted the sexual exploitation of a young adolescent by her step father. The only purpose for this graphic depiction seemed to be to entertain. Depicting sex for entertainment purpose ...more

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Apr 01, 2009 Bucket rated it it was amazing

Shelves: reviewed, tragedy, parents-affecting-children, 1001-read-all-editions, love, literary, sex, language

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Humbert Humbert never consummated his love for Annabel Leigh as a child and is therefore obsessed by nymphets (girls 9-13). He moves from Paris to New England to write and ends up living with Charlotte Haze and her daughter Dolores (Lolita) who is 12. He's smitten. Humbert ends up marrying Charlotte (she loves him and wants him to love her or leave) who dies suddenly when she discovers Humbert secret in his diary and flees. Humbert gets Lolita from summer camp and roams the country with her (sex ...more

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