So I have finally starting reading "Lolita" and I'm hooked. My husband came into our bedroom at 1:45 am and saw me fighting sleep while trying to read. That's what happens when a book is that good. You forget where you are or what is happening around you. All sense of time fades away. Within the first paragraph I already knew why this book is considered a classic: the writing is beautiful.
A lot of times in between reading really well written, thought provoking books, I will take a break with something easy - ya know the type- they are usually referred to as beach reads, the books where you don't have to concentrate at all to get through it. I like these books but I never feel as if the authors are real writers. To me they are purely employees collecting a paycheck for doing a job. The words don't sing off of the page; there is no soul alive behind the paragraphs. Reading a classic is a whole different experience. You can feel the writers emotions right there on the page. The words drip with passion and angst and sorrow and pain and the other myriad of emotions that come when one's soul is exposed. I can already feel the soul behind "Lolita." I'm only on page 30 but its there already. Good writing makes you see things in a way that you never have before.
I find myself empathizing with the main character, Humbert Humbert (no that is not a typo, he has the same first and last name. Weird, yes) even though he is for all intents and purposes a pedophile. There is a paragraph where he is describing himself sitting in the park watching pre-pubscent girls playing and getting turned on. Sounds awful right? Even he knows its awful but he can't stop. Now I wouldn't normally find this behavior acceptable - hell even jailed criminals are disgusted by pedophiles but you learn early on that Humbert first fell in love when he was 12 with another 12 year old girl. The romance described between the young Humbert and Annabelle is pure and sweet and innocent - the way first loves should be. Unfortunately for Humbert Annabelle dies a year later and he is forever haunted by the memory of her. As an adult man, he still hungers for that girl child he fell in love with. After learning this, I understand why he is the way he is, wrong and immoral though it may be, it makes sense and I felt myself feeling so sorry for him. My heart was breaking thinking of how his entire life he has carried the memory of this love and it basically ruined him from having any meaningful relationships with an adult female. He does attempt marriage only so that he is not looked upon by society as a freak of nature and of course it fails miserably because he is not attracted to grown women. I love the complexity of Humbert's character : another thing that great literature does is that it builds amazingly complex, dimensional characters that draw out emotions and makes us examine ourselves a little more closely.
All of this and I'm only 30 pages in? wow...can't wait for the rest..
A lot of times in between reading really well written, thought provoking books, I will take a break with something easy - ya know the type- they are usually referred to as beach reads, the books where you don't have to concentrate at all to get through it. I like these books but I never feel as if the authors are real writers. To me they are purely employees collecting a paycheck for doing a job. The words don't sing off of the page; there is no soul alive behind the paragraphs. Reading a classic is a whole different experience. You can feel the writers emotions right there on the page. The words drip with passion and angst and sorrow and pain and the other myriad of emotions that come when one's soul is exposed. I can already feel the soul behind "Lolita." I'm only on page 30 but its there already. Good writing makes you see things in a way that you never have before.
I find myself empathizing with the main character, Humbert Humbert (no that is not a typo, he has the same first and last name. Weird, yes) even though he is for all intents and purposes a pedophile. There is a paragraph where he is describing himself sitting in the park watching pre-pubscent girls playing and getting turned on. Sounds awful right? Even he knows its awful but he can't stop. Now I wouldn't normally find this behavior acceptable - hell even jailed criminals are disgusted by pedophiles but you learn early on that Humbert first fell in love when he was 12 with another 12 year old girl. The romance described between the young Humbert and Annabelle is pure and sweet and innocent - the way first loves should be. Unfortunately for Humbert Annabelle dies a year later and he is forever haunted by the memory of her. As an adult man, he still hungers for that girl child he fell in love with. After learning this, I understand why he is the way he is, wrong and immoral though it may be, it makes sense and I felt myself feeling so sorry for him. My heart was breaking thinking of how his entire life he has carried the memory of this love and it basically ruined him from having any meaningful relationships with an adult female. He does attempt marriage only so that he is not looked upon by society as a freak of nature and of course it fails miserably because he is not attracted to grown women. I love the complexity of Humbert's character : another thing that great literature does is that it builds amazingly complex, dimensional characters that draw out emotions and makes us examine ourselves a little more closely.
All of this and I'm only 30 pages in? wow...can't wait for the rest..
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