Review: Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov |《Reread》

5 stars for Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov |《Reread》.

Fret not, this is not a review wrongly posted. Yes, it is Lolita again, and no, it is not a different Lolita. It is Lolita. To quote "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." That's right. The very same Lolita which I read and reviewed one week ago.

It is a well-known fact that people read the same book over and over. Needless to say, it is not unusual for booklovers to engage with their favourite books a second, third, or even tenth time. As a voracious reader, I am certainly not new to rereading (for leisure). If not for my ever-growing Reading List and the inevitable opportunity cost of time, I will have reread more books than I have liked to date. Though no stranger to reading a book more than once, I have never read the same book a second time right after it has been first read. Lolita is my first. I suppose there is always a first time for everything. By my rereading so soon, it also goes to show how much I adore Lolita. After all, action speaks louder than words.

In rereading Lolita - as with some other rereads, in particular The Lord of the Rings series - I have come to pay heed to the finer details of the story, things which somehow managed to slip past me the first time round. For that, I am glad for my attempt to relive the story, to go above and beyond the usual. At the same time, I am sad to say that it is not the same. Don't get me wrong, I am not saying that I enjoy Lolita any less this time, but simply for the reason that I am not experiencing Lolita for the first time anymore. Yea, ask any booklover and the consensus will be that it is a coveted pleasure to be reading a great book for the first time.

I have dallied much over the review of a reread. I shall move on by saying I stand pat on my previous review on Lolita - 5 stars.


Publisher: Berkley
Publication date: 15 Apr 1980

*** Favourite quote ***

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.

~ Lolita
Vladimir Nabokov

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Humbert Humbert - scholar, aesthete and romantic - has fallen completely and utterly in love with Lolita Haze, his landlady's gum-snapping, silky skinned twelve-year-old daughter. Reluctantly agreeing to marry Mrs Haze just to be close to Lolita, Humbert suffers greatly in the pursuit of romance; but when Lo herself starts looking for attention elsewhere, he will carry her off on a desperate cross-country misadventure, all in the name of Love. Hilarious, flamboyant, heart-breaking and full of ingenious word play, Lolita is an immaculate, unforgettable masterpiece of obsession, delusion and lust.

*Blurb from Goodreads*

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