In this Readers' Guide, Christine Clegg examines the critical history of "Lolita" through a broad range of interpretations. Although early criticism of the text polarized around 'that' question - is it literature or pornography? - the influence of American critics such as Lionel Trilling quickly secured canonical status for the novel. A compelling aspect of "Lolita" criticism is the way in which that question continues to return in different forms. In the 1980s and 1990s, "Lolita" has been the subject of diverse critical attention, beyond 'Nabokov Studies': from Richard Rorty's philosophical inquiry into the ethics of cruelty, to Rachel Bowlby's feminist analysis of the rhetoric of consumer culture in the novel. All of the main critical approaches to the novel are covered by this indispensable sourcebook.
Vladimir Nabokov's
Lolita triggers a deep conflict within the American psyche about crossing the line between love and the perverse lust for a child. In the bestselling audiobook, Jeremy Irons delivers a smooth, calculating presentation of Humbert Humbert, the middle-aged man obsessed with a 13-year-old girl named Lolita. Following a failed marriage to a "large, puffy, short-legged, big-breasted and practically brainless baba," Humbert decides to move to America to work as a tutor. Much to his dismay, his plans change and he moves into a boarding house in Ramsdale, New Hampshire. But his disappointment quickly fades after he realizes he lives next door to the "light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul Lo-li-ta." The relationship blossoms between the man "with a cesspool of rotting monsters behind his slow boyish smile" and the sassy, vivacious young girl.
The Russian-born author has amazing control of the English language--his jaw-dropping prose comes through powerfully on this audiotape (though some scholars believe the novel symbolizes Nabokov's internal struggle with the English language). Regardless of whether you condemn or condone the classic, listening to this audio rendition is a must. --Gina Kaysen (Running time: 11.5 hours)
