Lo. Lee. Ta.

"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.