"Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul.
Lo-leeta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to
tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta."
I know it may seem so obvious to pick the opening sentences as
my exert but they mean everything about the book to me. I was unlucky
enough to listen to the audio book for my Lolita experience and I
have to say it was horribly disturbing. The voice that echoes when I say
Lolita is always the echo of the audiobooks syrupy drawl of "Lo. Lee.
Ta."
This statement embodies the book for me because of the
feelings of discomfort embodied in that statement. It was brilliantly
written, and listening to it made it easier to get through because his voice
would glide on and on and I wouldn’t have to stop and think about things before
he was progressing on to the next scene. Lolita is described in this first
sentence with an unsettling amount of detail for something so peculiar. It prepares
you, in a way, for the rest of the book. He goes into disturbing detail about
his thought and actions regarding Lo and other nymphets. I will admit that it
is taking me awhile even now to get all the way through the book. The writing
is incredible which makes the subject matter a little bearable, but then I
reflect on what I have just listened to and feel somehow dirty. Like I’m some
kind of voyeur on his unforgivable molestations of these poor little girls.
The detail of his actions is what allows me to picture the story
so clearly. He knows that his actions are wrong but creates the idea of
nymphets to get around that his desires are not his fault, but the lustful
intentions of these little demon girls. “My sin, my soul.” Only emphasizes that
he knows what he’s doing is more than frowned upon by honorable members of
society. Throughout the whole story he’s
writing some kind of jailers journal reliving his life and what he’s done to
end up in jail. The preface of the story tells us that he died before his
trial, of which I’m sure he would have been found guilty, even without a book
detailing his actions.
I’m glad that I read the book and was able to experience it. It’s
rare that a book, even and audio book, gives you the shivers. This is an
important work of literature and I had fully intended to finish. Upon asking my
room mate if she had finished she said that it got rather dull besides the part
where he does have intercourse with Lo. I REALLY wasn’t excited about hearing
the detail of that encounter and decided not to finish. Apologies, but I’m glad
that I read as far as I did. It was still a very interesting, meaningful book.
