Choya's comments (member since Jan 25, 2009)

Choya's comments from the Chicks On Lit group.

Lois wrote: "I just want to report back that I did re-read the first part of Lolita -just up to where Lo goes off to camp and her mother leaves her love letter for Humbert, then the book was due back at the lib..."

Good for you, Lois. I'm glad you took the time to pay more attention to details of Lolita and I hope you'll do the same with the books you'll read next.

Sonja wrote: "As a disclaimer: I don't mean to say that understanding or liking Lolita is only a matter of ethnicity but I find it an interesting perspective to consider. (Yes, I live around DC and I can't help ..."

Sonja, I agree with everything you said because I always expect from a good book to touch me emotionally and to change me in a way. What surprises me is that most of the people I know tend to read whatever is bestselling or popular, they don't try to discover something new for themselves or to truly connect with literature. Usually that has nothing to do with ethnicity or culture, people are not in touch with their own passions, they read all the stories but rarely feel them.

Every time I read I go through a scale of emotions and that has a deeply cathartic effect on me. That way I get to know myself better, I let go some of the repressed feelings I wasn't even aware of... it's a learning process, really. It's easier if the characters I'm reading about remind me of myself during a certain part of my life or if they think in a similar way. Sometimes a word can move me, a phrase, a gesture or the fact that I'm understanding a situation or an action that would be beyond me in real life.

That's my way of "dealing" with literature, I don't know yet if it has someting to do with geography, mentality, education or whatever. It's the same thing when it comes to Lolita, I fell in love with it, I felt all the beauty of Nabokov's writing and I tried to sympathize with the weakness and the flaws of his protagonists.

I must admit that I'm trying to avoid Allende because I've heard such wonderful things and I'm afraid I'll be disappointed. That happens a lot, it did with Coelho and many others. Maybe you could recommend with what I could start with? Thanks.

Hvala, Sonja! Svijet je selo, small world, zaista!

I think your remark is interesting and I'd love it if you would share some more. I never thought about Lolita or any other book that way and now I'm wondering if you're right. I guess I'll think about it. What do you think is the reason for this? Have you noticed any patterns with other books and cultures? Personally, I find South American literature very easy to connect to and get all kinds of familiar feelings while reding it. Maybe that's it.

Serbian is my native language and I have tried once to read Lolita in English but I simply couldn't. I found it extremly difficult to follow everything but the main plot because Nabokov has a very complex way of expressing himself, just like many other authors who write in English but it's not their actual native language. That's why (when it comes to Lolita) I stick with the Serbian/Croatian/Bosnian translation, it helps me to understand writing and poetry of it better.

Lois & Sheila, I suppose you could try to read Lolita again, but nevermind the story since we all know what it's about. If you pay attention to details, the way Nabokov builds his sentences, studies his characters, adds new layers to their personalities... there is something deep (or deeply disturbing) that you will find in this book that will make you love it or hate it forever. I don't think I can give you examples because every reader should explore and discover a book in their own way, otherwise you'd just be looking at Lolita through my eyes. And you shouldn't underestimate English, I find it beautiful and I'm aware how sometimes so much can be lost in translation.

I have read Lolita so many times and I always seem to enjoy it more and more. It's one of my favorite novels of all time. I think it's fascinating and I'm surprised by the comments I've read so far. It is disturbing and difficult, I admit, most of us have mixed feelings about Humbert Humbert, but there is something so beautiful in Nabokov's writing, something poetic that makes me understand things that aren't even mentioned in the book. For me, that's what great books are all about. As for the topic, I know it's hard but all of you who find it hard to cope with it should try to distance yourselves from your own feelings in order to understand the psychology of the characters.

There are so many things that I would like to share and discuss, but my English isn't great and I'm afraid I'll be misunderstood. I just hope that some of you who decide to finish reading Lolita will at least understand it if not like it.

I think that most of the songs written by Sting or perhaps George Michael are pure poetry: Shape of my heart, You have been loved, Mad about you, Fastlove, Send your love, Jesus to a child, Amazing... Leonard Cohen is brilliant and Dance me to the end of love is one of my all time favorites. There are many lyrics that truly touch me and I could go on all day about about poetry within music but, off course, we all have our own favorite artists and songs.

I was fascinated by El Vuelo de La Reina. It made me pay more attention to Latin American literature.

Hi, I'm Choya. Books have been my greatest love ever since I was 3. Now I'm 23 and I'm studying Serbian and literature. I'm trying to turn my passion into a profession. I don't prefer any genre but I think the best books are those in which I can find true beauty and those that make me a better sister, daughter, friend, lover...
Some of my favorite books are Lolita, The Poisonwood Bible, White Oleander, Three Comrades, The End of the Affair, Migrations by Crnjanski, Les Liaisons Dangereuses, Fahrenheit 451, The Man in the High Castle, The Age of Innocence and many others. I especially enjoy Serbian love poetry.
I'm excited about joining this club and exchanging opinions with all of you.