Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita

Lolita
by Vladimir Nabokov

I’ve wanted to read this book ever since I heard of Throw Me the Statue’s song, “Lolita.” The plotline, an older man falling in love with a child, although it was total blasphemy, was quite interesting and unheard of. The book’s first paragraph drew me in:

“Lolita, light of my life, fire of my lions. 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 about a pedophile named Humbert Humbert, a middle-aged man who has a fetish for young girls known as nymphets. Humbert finds himself as the lodger at the home of a lonely widow, Charlotte Haze and 12-year-old daughter, Dolores. His fetish became an unhealthy, sick obsession when Dolores, his Lolita, became the subject of his fantasies. This is a story about his forbidden love affair, which ultimately leads to his psychological demise.
Lolita is one of the most well-written novels I’ve read yet. I never would have guessed that English is Nabokov’s second language; it’s such an accomplishment to be fluent in another language and write a novel in it so beautifully, especially when the storyline causes such controversy. Nabokov brought Humbert’s obsession to life as his chilling desires and needs controlled Humbert like a drug.
Although the book dragged a bit in the middle as Nabokov described every detail of the “couple’s” cross-country trip, the ending made everything worthwhile. It's interesting how Nabokov portrays this "fantasy" lolita and how she would behave and act. It makes you wonder...is it really okay that love is blind in every way?