Lolita

author
Vladimir Nabokov

isbn, so you can find the particular version
9780679727293 (sometimes ISBNs change if the book is reisued; that's ok. Just get the version annotated by Alfred Appel, Jr.)

the spiel
Ok, people, it’s time to talk about Lolita.  Never in my life have I been so wrong about a book.  I read Lolita for the first time five years ago.  At that time, I didn’t think very much of it.  The book was fine, but nothing to write home about.  It was only because of the intense, incessant urging of a highly esteemed friend—and lifetime Nabokov devotee—that I was inclined to try again.  I remember, it was pouring, and I drove down to the bookstore where both of us work, ran in, bought The Annotated Lolita, and headed home in the deluge, to read.  Whereupon, I settled into my teal armchair, book in hand, and didn’t emerge for hours.  It was a pinnacle reading experience.  There I was, expecting to slog through, to be let down.  But, gentle reader, that did not happen; on the contrary, I was enthralled with the with the writing; moved by the complex, precise, and accurate emotional depictions of the characters; seriously amused by the brilliant humor, biting irony, and dry descriptions.  Lolita is, in no other word, a masterpiece. 

With a storyline known round the world: older man (Humbert Humbert) falls in love, and has an affair, of sorts, with a young girl (Lolita), what is lost, obscured by, shall we say the morally challenging plot summary, is just how absolutely incredible, and multi-layered the book is.  Nabokov was truly a genius and his books are laced with references to other literature and affairs, in huge thematic ways.  Additionally, they are strewn with non-English phrases (mostly French), and obscure, archaic vocabulary.  It is for these reasons that I highly recommend, as my brilliant and ultimately right friend did, that you buy the annotated version.  You’re going to want it, and you can always ignore the annotations for a few pages if you’re feeling overwhelmed.  The bottom line is that you are going to miss major chunks of the Lolita experience if you don’t have them.  The complexity of Nabokov’s writing is not academic pretension.  He is creating a universe out of the layers that he builds; nothing is done thoughtlessly.  The design of the book is seamless, but the local complexities can be staggering without the annotations.   

Lolita is brilliant, unequivocally—but it is also beautiful, and deeply touching.  It is a love story, in the truest sense of the word.  The raw emotion portrayed is heartbreakingly true to life.  It is also, unbelievably funny—I was shocked by how funny it is.  This is not a story about an old guy trying to shtup a young girl, don’t let anyone tell you that it is.  And if that is all you can see, look harder.  If that’s still all you can see, get a few more years of life under your belt, and then try again.  Lolita is unequaled.  It is an allegory for our time. It is the ultimate example of language as art.  It has rightly become a cultural landmark—so go visit.

just a little factoid to make all us mortals feel inferior
English, the language Nabokov wrote Lolita in, is not his first language. Dear god.

some of the hype
"The only convincing love story of our century" (Vanity Fair)

"Nabokov writes prose the only way it should be written, that is, ecstatically." (John Updike)

A fine book, a distinguished book--all right, then--a great book." (Dorothy Parker)

some other things this author has written
Invitation to a Beheading
Pale Fire
Laughter in the Dark
Despair
The Gift
Pnin
The Defense
Mary
Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle
Speak, Memory
Bend Sinister