From the Bookshelf of Never too Late to Read Classics…

Lolita

Vladimir Nabokov

Start date: March 1, 2023

Finish date: March 31, 2023

Discussion: Lesser Know/Wilderness Classics

Find A Copy At

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of -1 topics — 2,748 comments total

Lesser Know/Wilderness Classics

* 2025 Must Read Lesser Known Classics: Scheduled Reads
By Lesle , Appalachain Bibliophile · 72 posts · 196 views

last updated Sep 06, 2025 07:14AM

Wilderness Classics
By Lesle , Appalachain Bibliophile · 78 posts · 113 views

last updated Sep 26, 2025 05:58PM

showing 5 of 5 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Jan 13, 2012 Antonomasia rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: bbc-big-read, central-eastern-europe, 1001-books, russia, american, decade-1950s, divine-comedy-booklovers, 2013, cult-books

Oct 2013
The novel itself was superb, and is even better in remembering it nearly four months later - whilst reading, it was almost too intense and too rich. However I thought Alfred Appel's annotated edition very overrated, with its embarrassing and unscholarly fawning over Nabokov in the intro, dull and pointless level of detail in some notes (better reserved for a separate critical work), contrasting lack of notes and discussion on points that could have done with it, and inability to acknowle ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Apr 25, 2017 Sarah rated it liked it

Icky. This was struggle to finish.

The main character is an awful human, who does awful things. He is also (apparently) an unreliable narrator, so his awfulness may be much worse than it seems - which is hard to imagine. Or perhaps less so?

I've been hearing about this book for years, and when I announced I was finally reading it - several friends were shocked. "How could I read a book about a pedphile?" Trust me, he doesn't come off in any way good. Also, there is virtually no graphic sex, than ...more

Like · see review