Banned book: Lolita
by Vladimir Nabokov
Why this a dangerous book.
This book explores the mind of the story's narrator 'Humbert Humbert' a self loathing pedophile.
It contains depictions of the molestation of Dolores Haze by the narrator. The writing style of these sex scenes is quite erotic; which perhaps explains why people objected to it. Also I think, Nabokov is such a brilliant writer that at one point you actually find yourself cheering for Humbert Humbert and his pursuit of Dolores.
This book has been considered both one of the greatest works of 20th Century Literature and 'pornographic trash.'
It has been banned at some point in England and France; but surprisingly not in America. Pedophilia is a very difficult topic in modern western society. I am reminded of the controversy surrounding the Australian Photographer Bill Henson's work. He photographs young teens, and did a haunting series of nudes. I personally thought they were brilliant pieces of work, but there was a lot of people very upset saying that it was pedophilic. Which was incorrect to begin with, they should have described it as ephebophilic which is about the attraction to adolescents; whereas pedophilia describes the attraction to children. But I digress.
Review
Idiots should not read this book. Nor should anybody that watches breakfast televsion shows like Sunrise or the one on Channel 9. They won't understand it and will probably just call in to Mel and Kochie and say how this book is going to encourage pedophiles to commit acts like those depicted in the book.
That being said, it is an amazing book. The author has taken a difficult subject matter and I think managed to say something greater about the banality of American life. There are many reviews and essays done on this book and they are worth reading. I am not going to give any plot detail or talk about how Nabokov creates the surreal in the mundane. Others have done it and done it better, read them.
What I did find fascinating was that; as I read it, I kept recalling things like child beauty paegents where young girls, much younger than the Lolita in the book, are dressed up, made up and dance around for adults, pretending to be little adults for a prize. I find that more disturbing, because in many places this is a socially acceptable activity for mothers and their daughters
So was I corrupted by this book? Are the reasons for the controversy surrounding it justified?
I think more than anything this book has made me see what is possible with writing and will make me be a better writer.
Interestingly if you search for the phrase "Lolita" in Google you get pages and pages of images of japanese women dressed up as little victorian era girls. Is this a kind of reverse pedophilia? I wonder if these women feel more sexy when they are dressed as little girls, and what does that say about those attracted to them, but that would a topic for another essay.
