The Bowie Book Club discussion

Just one thread to discuss Lolita and add general comments, refer to resources or discover its links with Bowie's work. Have fun!

How's your reading going?

I'm almost halfway through. I have to admit it is a very different experience compared to the time I first read it around the age of 14. Feeling lust for 12 year old girls felt kind of normal then:) Still, a great book!

Peter wrote: "I'm almost halfway through. I have to admit it is a very different experience compared to the time I first read it around the age of 14. Feeling lust for 12 year old girls felt kind of normal then:..."

I guess when you're 14 yourself, this is quite normal ;-)
I believe the power of this book resides in the story told by HH's (sick) perspective. I remember watching the movie when I was younger and feeling not at my ease at all.

It's a difficult read at times isn't it! I've been tempted to throw it down in disgust at times but the writing is so vivid it won't let me go. I haven't read anything else by Nabokov and I'd like to read more now to see how much of the depravity of his character in this book can be attributed to his skills as a writer versus his own urges! I guess it's very brave of him to write about such a topic, which Bowie would have appreciated.

Since my edition of Passing has not arrived yet, I'll try to read Lolita now.

So I’m catching up with all the reading I didn’t do at the end of last year. I just finished The Man Who Fell to Earth, and now I’m on Lolita.

For this one, I’m listening to an audio-book narrated by Jeremy Irons. I think most people would agree that Mr. Irons has a lovely voice to listen to, and up until listening to this, I would have erroneously believed that I could listen to him talk about anything. Wrong! Maybe it’s because he is such an extraordinary actor, but I’m finding this very difficult to listen to. It’s just too disturbing! I’m not ready to give up yet, though. I am trying to distance myself from the subject matter and focus on the writing. It really is beautifully written, and if the subject were 22 and not 12, it would be an epic story of unrequited love.

I've finally started reading this. I'm 50 pages in and, must admit, mildly disgusted. The prose is beautiful, and even though it's keeping me with the book, it still makes the story feel dirtier.

Is Humbert a split personality? He is telling the story in the first-person POV, but at times I tought a cought a third-person POV. I'm confused.

Why does Charlotte hate Lolita so much? I would have thought that she felt deep down where Humbert interests really lay, but it seems that this dislike is older than Humbert.