Why Lolita is my favourite novel
Being both a avid reader and an English literature undergrad student the one frequently asked question behind 'So you want to be a teacher then?' is, without a doubt, 'What is your favourite book?. This question was almost impossible to answer a few years ago when i felt nothing but overwhelmed about how many books i hadn't yet read and felt reserved about answering the question for that reason, but ultimately this anxiety was ridiculous because you are allowed to change your mind. duh. I always wanted an answer to this but felt pressure that people will judge what type of person you are by what book you claim to be your favorite. You may think this is silly but we all judge. If someone was to declare Austen's Pride and Prejudice their fave then it would be universally preconceived that this person is a woman with naive tendencies and lacking in originality. Additionally, when this question is at the forefront of your mind it affects your reading experiences as you start comparing novels to others and critiquing them more, thinking 'what more could this book do to make me like it better?' thus you become removed from full immersion into these realms of fiction.
When i began my A levels i abandoned romance and YA novels for the most part and transitioned into more canonical fiction as i could now understand it a lot better and was naturally studying more novels at A level so wanted to read around each period. It was at A level i gained a deeper connection to the power of novels through reading admirable texts like The Handmaids tale which i found myself really adoring. I had a strong feeling Atwood may be my favourite writer so i began saving up to purchase other works by her such as Lady Oracle, Alias Grace and Stone mattress but i found none of them as endearing as the handmaids tale. I found myself drawn in by the way Atwood used her text to thoroughly challenge humanity as a concept and the fact that everything in the novel has happened before, is currently happening in the world or is plausibly predicted to happen in the very near future, it impacted me a lot. Atwoods phrases like 'A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere as long as it stays inside the maze' made me realize that ultimately it was not her as a writer i admired but rather the genre of dystopian and speculative fiction.
A text which is again hugely popular that i truly consider to my second favourite novel is Shelley's Frankenstein. A huge part of this is all the deep struggles Shelley faced in her life and the fact that despite this, she was able to produce this creative and chilling masterpiece at just 18 years old. I am a creative writer myself and at the time when i first read this text i was publishing my own works online, Shelley really inspired me to play around with my own writing and branch out into other genres. I have always had a passion for the darker things in life like the supernatural and had never read a horror novel before, despite having King's intimidatingly large IT on my shelves. I loved her use of nature to represent the affect of victor's hubris on the environment and the creative doubling depicting that the monster was the one out of the pair with humanity and compassion. This text truly has so much substance and is home to some of my favourite literary quotes such as 'You are my creator, but i am your master'. The chinese box structure is also utterly unique and gothic, there is so much to admire in the novel from the feminist commentaries to the pathetic fallacy, Shelley was truly a literary genius.
As much as i admired Frankenstein for all its unique and inspirational properties, i felt there was something more psychologically twisted that would take the crown. I found that in Lolita. The most twisted, taboo novel i have ever read besides shocking non fiction cases in criminal and forensic psychology. The protagonist Humbert is so repugnant and yet Nabokov has the skill to depict him simultaneously as a loathsome transgressive barbarian with 'ageing ape eyes' and as a poor man who was significantly mistreated in his youth, had no help for his psychological trauma and blamed for being a victim. It takes a very strong stomach to finish this novel, which comes during the post war period of ww2 offering an explanation to Nabokov's strong challenging of censorship; in a society which has been exposed to the most horrific situation does censorship have a place any longer?. No book has ever evoked stronger or more conflicting emotions in me, It truly makes the reader asses their morals and question why they have such morals. I adore this dangerous novel and its ability to divide readers. What makes it so compelling in Nabokov's highly eloquent descriptions, his soft writing style completely juxtaposes the vile contents making the text so unique, playing into the inner conflict of the readers.
Disclaimer: Although Lolita is my favourite book i do not in any way endorse or promote any form of abuse. Ever. Abuse of anyone or anything is never okay.
When i began my A levels i abandoned romance and YA novels for the most part and transitioned into more canonical fiction as i could now understand it a lot better and was naturally studying more novels at A level so wanted to read around each period. It was at A level i gained a deeper connection to the power of novels through reading admirable texts like The Handmaids tale which i found myself really adoring. I had a strong feeling Atwood may be my favourite writer so i began saving up to purchase other works by her such as Lady Oracle, Alias Grace and Stone mattress but i found none of them as endearing as the handmaids tale. I found myself drawn in by the way Atwood used her text to thoroughly challenge humanity as a concept and the fact that everything in the novel has happened before, is currently happening in the world or is plausibly predicted to happen in the very near future, it impacted me a lot. Atwoods phrases like 'A rat in a maze is free to go anywhere as long as it stays inside the maze' made me realize that ultimately it was not her as a writer i admired but rather the genre of dystopian and speculative fiction.
A text which is again hugely popular that i truly consider to my second favourite novel is Shelley's Frankenstein. A huge part of this is all the deep struggles Shelley faced in her life and the fact that despite this, she was able to produce this creative and chilling masterpiece at just 18 years old. I am a creative writer myself and at the time when i first read this text i was publishing my own works online, Shelley really inspired me to play around with my own writing and branch out into other genres. I have always had a passion for the darker things in life like the supernatural and had never read a horror novel before, despite having King's intimidatingly large IT on my shelves. I loved her use of nature to represent the affect of victor's hubris on the environment and the creative doubling depicting that the monster was the one out of the pair with humanity and compassion. This text truly has so much substance and is home to some of my favourite literary quotes such as 'You are my creator, but i am your master'. The chinese box structure is also utterly unique and gothic, there is so much to admire in the novel from the feminist commentaries to the pathetic fallacy, Shelley was truly a literary genius.
As much as i admired Frankenstein for all its unique and inspirational properties, i felt there was something more psychologically twisted that would take the crown. I found that in Lolita. The most twisted, taboo novel i have ever read besides shocking non fiction cases in criminal and forensic psychology. The protagonist Humbert is so repugnant and yet Nabokov has the skill to depict him simultaneously as a loathsome transgressive barbarian with 'ageing ape eyes' and as a poor man who was significantly mistreated in his youth, had no help for his psychological trauma and blamed for being a victim. It takes a very strong stomach to finish this novel, which comes during the post war period of ww2 offering an explanation to Nabokov's strong challenging of censorship; in a society which has been exposed to the most horrific situation does censorship have a place any longer?. No book has ever evoked stronger or more conflicting emotions in me, It truly makes the reader asses their morals and question why they have such morals. I adore this dangerous novel and its ability to divide readers. What makes it so compelling in Nabokov's highly eloquent descriptions, his soft writing style completely juxtaposes the vile contents making the text so unique, playing into the inner conflict of the readers.
Disclaimer: Although Lolita is my favourite book i do not in any way endorse or promote any form of abuse. Ever. Abuse of anyone or anything is never okay.
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