“Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta. She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock. She was Lola in slacks. She was Dolly at school. She was Dolores on the dotted line. But in my arms she was always Lolita."
Lolita is my favourite novel. I'm currently re-reading it, albeit slowly, for the fourth time. I want to make it clear now that I view the novel and the 1996 film as two completely different things, both good in my opinion. The 1996 film has made the image of Lolita into a story of forbidden love, and the whole thing has been romanticised beyond belief. Although I like the romantic imagery of the film, and the soppy soundtrack, I don't believe that anyone who has read the novel can say that this a love story.
When I describe the plot to people who are not familiar, they look disgusted and ask me how I can read such a horrible story and enjoy it. Especially when narrated by the paedophile himself. But what people don't understand is how beautiful that narration is. Nabokov's first language is not English, which makes his writing all the more impressive. The fact that he can make the narration sound so intelligent, yet so insane, is brilliant. And as I said before, Lolita is not a romantic love story (except of maybe unrequited love) and you are supposed to feel uncomfortable, disgusted by Humbert. You are not supposed to feel sympathy, or excuse his love for Lolita.
My polyvore set today is inspired by a combination of the original film and the 90s remake.
 |
| gentlemen of the jury |
No comments:
Post a Comment