What the F do you guys think of Lolita? I finally got around to reading it and I don't know what to think. There's a part of me (unpopular opinion) that thinks only a dirty old man could wax as lyrically and frequently about little girls' bodies. But the writing is really great -- arguably ahead of his time, and you can see where Handler was influenced. Unlike many of the classics I've read, I see why it's a classic. Thoughts?
"The world, no matter how monstrously it may be threatened, has never been known to succumb entirely." - Chas. Snicket's grandson
Post by A comet crashing into Earth on Feb 22, 2017 12:00:05 GMT -5
I remembered ralking about Lolita in the What are you reading? thread, so I went back to check what my elaborate, well-considered opinion of the book was back when I was still in the middle of it.
Pepper asl are you actually 14 cause in that case you are almost Lolita
Wait I just realized you may be too young to know what asl means...
On a Lolita note though, I had a conversation with a friend recently where she insisted that Lolita was meant to be a satire, that we were not meant to take Nabokov seriously when his writing obsesses over the bodies of little girls. What do we think? I personally think there are ways to write about pedophilia that aren't pedophilic -- and Nabokov doesn't do that (it's also been suggested that he had relationships with young girls).
I read something a while ago, can't remember where, that suggested that most authors write what obsesses them and what you write (especially novels, which are the result of months, sometimes years of obsessive word-related labor) is what you're obsessed with and to some extent a reflection of yourself. The only example I can remember relates to Kafka and says that he felt like he woke up every morning as a monstrous vermin. I can only write about things that (usually I realize only retrospectively) I'm obsessed with. All this to say that I'm not particularly sympathetic to Nabokov or the text.
Many who would otherwise comment on this subject, such as me, have not read Lolita, and so cannot reply.
Those who have read Lolita presumably disagree with you on some fundamental level and don't wanna argue about whether some dead Russian is a pedo or nah based off speculation.
Personally, I agree with the legal system on this one. It's one thing to have the guilty mind, which is of course offputting for such an icky crime, but unless he actually performed the guilty act, I don't believe we can or should discredit him.
it's OLLIE NOT BALLIE: StOrY tImE sOooO, my uncle gave me $30 for my birthday yesterday, and there was a $5 bill with it, so at lunch I bought some extra Pizza (I ate 6 slices) bt someone tried to take my pizza so I had too lick all of them.
Apr 25, 2024 13:26:59 GMT -5
it's OLLIE NOT BALLIE: AND THEN someone asked my friend if he wanted to water fall from his pop bottle, he said ya and when he was drinking it my other friend squeezed it on him and then friend A squeezed it all over her, and then knocked her out of her chair, and when she tried
Apr 25, 2024 13:27:24 GMT -5
it's OLLIE NOT BALLIE: too get up she slipped and fell and now she has bruses on her back, but the pop got all over me so I put my hoodie on and took my shirt off, but then another friend poured glitter on everyone and was screeming "AND SHE WAS A FAIRY" so my hoodie was covered
Apr 25, 2024 13:27:41 GMT -5
it's OLLIE NOT BALLIE: in glitter and it was making me cough and I couldn't breath so I had too go to Hawk Haven and get a new shirt, but that shirt was hella ugly so I had to wear an ugly shirt for the rest of the day, and then, when I was eating some cereal left over from
Apr 25, 2024 13:28:02 GMT -5
it's OLLIE NOT BALLIE: breakfast, the same friend came over and poured it in my cereal but I didn't want it to go to waist so I ate it anyway (she said it was edible) but in 4rth hour I threw up glitter in the bathroom so :/ and it's cold in my 5th hour and when I put on my hood
Apr 25, 2024 13:35:17 GMT -5
it's OLLIE NOT BALLIE: ie, glitter got all over me again. Oh and someone got shoved against a wall in lunch and broke threw the wall and tipped the lockers over. THANK YOU FOR COMING TOO MY TED TALK
Apr 25, 2024 13:35:47 GMT -5