First Meeting

Today was our first official book club meeting, where we were discussing Vladimir Nabokov's novel, 'Lolita' whilst eating Lolita themed food courtesy of Mr Jones.

Our discussion was quite broad in order to cover the most of main ideas of Lolita in brief, as we were hoping to move onto a different novel after half term; Sylvia Plath's 'The Bell Jar'. Our discussion topics and interpretations included:

• Debating whether Humbert is an antagonist due to his immoral character, or a victim of Lolita's manipulation and cruelness. We came to a shared conclusion that Lolita is often a rude, cruel and unlikable character, and that Nabokov's first person narrative style presents Humbert as comical and amusing which therefore compels the reader to sympathise with him - evoking guilt and shock. Humbert is a victim to some extent, however this is emphasised by his deceitful, manipulative narration which distracts the reader from his horrendous, immoral behaviour.
• The foreword section of the novel adds realism to the events, as it is styled as a psychoanalytical report. This links to the historical notes within Margaret Atwood's 'The Handmaid's Tale', and the scientific reports concluding Ian McEwan's 'Enduring Love', and shows that 'Lolita' is perhaps ahead of its time, as it is written in a similar style to novels from the 80's and 90's.
• Another link we made was to Emily Bronte's 'Wuthering Heights' due to Cathy Linton's nostalgia and escapism to her childhood love, mirrored by Humbert's escapism to his romance with Anabelle as a child, through being with 'nymphets'.
• If we decided to re-read 'Lolita', we would look more closely at the character of Quilty, as by the end of the novel he seems to mirror Humbert.
• Debating whether 'Lolita' should be considered as a classic piece of literature due to the immoral and controversial theme of pedophilia, which is presented in a romanticised way therefore evoking less shock from the reader. We considered how Nabokov stated that 'Lolita' isn't a love story, however it is easy to get wrapped up and confused by their relationship due to Humbert's clever narrative style, "You can always count on a murderer for a fancy prose style."

We will begin discussing 'The Bell Jar' on Thursday 6th of November at lunchtime in WS07.

Now Reading...

The first novel for discussion is Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita, published in 1955.

Lolita is the fictional memoir of Humbert Humbert, and traces the controversial and growing obsessions of an older man with an adolescent girl. The events take place through the late 1940s and early 1950s, beginning in the south of France and then moving to America. As the relationship between Dolores and Humbert develops, the reader discovers the dangerous nature and consequences of obsession.

There have been two film adaptations of this novel in 1997 and 1962.

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/lolita/

http://homeworktips.about.com/od/bookreportprofiles/a/lolita.htm