"Omg Lolita is SUCH an awful book bc the narrator is OBVIOUSLY so CHARMING so you'll SYMPATHIZE with him"

Humbert Humbert on the first page: "Your Honour, my defence is that I'm being crucified for my sins which literally makes me Jesus Christ"

Lolita rant because why not:

WHY DO SOME PEOPLE STILL CALL IT A LOVE STORY WHEN THERE'S LITERALLY A PART WHERE DOLORES ASKS FOR THE NAME OF "the hotel where you first raped me" LIKE EXCUSE ME WHAT PART OF A 12 YEAR GIRL GETTING RAPED AND ABUSED IS ROMANTIC TO YOU??

I cannot stress this enough LOLITA IS PSYCOLOGICAL HORROR. Humbert Humbert is an unreliable narrator that's manipulating and charming YOU into believing it's a love story but it's your responsibility to read in between the lines and realise what's actually going on. How lolita is just a 12 year old girl named Dolores who is isolated, raped and abused throughout the entire book by Humbert Humbert and has no voice in his story.

Even the people behind the lolita movies did not get this they still think of lolita as some sort of seductress which is just disgusting.

I think the reason why people sometimes interpret it as a love story is because of how beautifully it is written. The way Humbert Humbert writes about Lolita is very dreamy and poetic but that's literally the point of the book it's a cautionary tale.

Some people turn Vladimir Nabokov into the villain for writing a book like this when in reality he was victim of child sexual abuse himself. He called lolita his "poor little girl". He wanted the cover of the book to be an American landscape and especially NOT that of a little girl because he wanted lolita to be faceless. It's so heartbreaking to see the author's wishes be blatantly disrespected.

I love psychological horrors/thrillers with unreliable narrators like lolita and killing stalking but they get misinterpreted so often it's sad.

PSA: A Survivor Could’ve Written Lolita. In Lolita, Dolores Haze experiences some of the trauma due to CSA that Vladimir Nabokov (the author) supposedly experienced in his lifetime.

TW: CSA, abuse, corrupt adults, survivor shaming, slut shaming

Stop shaming people for reading and enjoying Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, especially survivors of CSA. Stop shaming people for connecting with and relating to Dolores Haze through fashion, aesthetics, art, literature, poetry, etc. as a coping mechanism or style choice. It’s alleged and widely speculated that Nabokov was a CSA survivor. Some of what Dolores Haze’s experiences in the book is said to reflect his lived experience/trauma with CSA. Let us celebrate Dolores Haze in peace.

Yes, it’s been largely speculated (and agreed upon) that the tragic case of Sally Horner inspired Lolita, but some people today think Nabokov’s own lived experience likely impacted the story too. Dolores Haze is a tragic figure because of what she goes through in the novel and what she most likely represented in the context of Nabokov’s life and beyond. Her resilience, style, and attitude shine through all of it, which is part of why she’s such a literary and fashion icon today.

Some of the abuse Dolores Haze experiences at the hands of Humbert Humbert also describes what Nabokov’s Uncle Ruka allegedly did to him. In fact, there is an instance of CSA in Lolita that reads as eerily similar to what Nabokov supposedly went through as a child at the hands of his uncle. In Lolita, Humbert Humbert assaults/violates Dolores Haze while she’s sitting on his lap, which sounds very similar to what Nabokov’s Uncle Ruka is said to have done to him. I’ve also read that Nabokov’s parents basically ignored it because Uncle Ruka was set to leave a substantial inheritance once he died.

To be clear: It’s never been outright “proven” by any direct evidence that Nabokov’s Uncle Ruka victimized him. Nonetheless, a lot of people suspect this to be the case based on what they’ve learned about his life and from his writings. In fact, there’s an entire scholarly book called Solving Nabokov’s Lolita Riddle by Joanne Morgan for anyone who’s interested in reading a deep dive about it.

Let’s be real: If Vladimir Nabokov had spoken candidly about his experience with being victimized by his uncle, society would have undoubtedly shamed him. Society shamed Sally Horner because an old man pretending to be an FBI agent abducted her as a child. Society continues to shame Dolores Haze by blaming her for what happened to her as well based on popular misconceptions and blatant misreadings of Lolita. The film adaptations of Lolita only further enforce this fact. Furthermore, Dolores Haze is literally written by a survivor, yet no one ever mentions that when they discuss Lolita. The fact that there’s even a chance that Vladimir Nabokov might’ve written Lolita as a survivor needs to become part of the larger discourse surrounding Lolita.

Like I said, Dolores Haze has become a literary and fashion icon. She has inspires many people (including survivors), and that’s part of why nymphet fashion is a thing. Nymphet fashion helps me express myself creatively through fashion and practice self-care. I call myself a doelette because I specifically relate to Dolores Haze as a survivor. As such, she is often the inspiration for my fashion, aesthetics, and writing connected to my processing of and healing from trauma. I don’t deserve the hate I get for this.

Once again: Let us celebrate Dolores Haze in peace.

📸 The first Lolita cover (1955) - Wikimedia Commons

books :) and sweets

“𝘐 𝘸𝘢𝘴 𝘢 𝘥𝘢𝘪𝘴𝘺 𝘧𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘩 𝘨𝘪𝘳𝘭 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘭𝘰𝘰𝘬 𝘸𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘷𝘦 𝘥𝘰𝘯𝘦 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘦.”

Nymphett Culture = Coca Cola + Lolita + Heart-Shaped Sunglasses ❤️

god that first highlighted sentence made me feel like my brain literally did not work

I actually got the book Lolita and read through it (regrettably and I dread reaching the end) and I must say whoever thinks this is a love story is very very very much mistaken. This is the opposite of it. It’s a book on a man grooming and being a complete predator.

The amount of times this man has repeated that this “Lolita” is severely underage is concerning, especially the fact that he’s fully convinced that Lolita is very much UNLIKELY to show the same kind of “Love” that HH has for Lolita..

Let’s also mention his obsession to the point of marrying her guardian and literally making Lolita basically his child on papers??? Logically people have to agree with me on this that it’s not a love story, it’s a story of a man so pathetic and obsessed with what he calls a “nymphet”.

Every few pages I need to stop and takes breather to process how fucked up this man is with how he says all these things with almost no guilty conscious despite (relatively) knowing what he’s doing is wrong.

It's so fascinating to me that the books that were supposed to be cautionary tales are now being used almost like an instruction manual.

Take lolita by Vladimir Nabokov for example, it's a Gothic horror novel written from the perspective of an unreliable narrator (the pedophile) but many people (wayyyyy too many people) see it as a love story. Especially on tumblr lolita is romanticised a lot. How people manage to call a book where a 12 year old girl is consistently abused romantic is beyond me.

Another example is 1984 by George Orwell however this one is more subtle. 1984 is about a dystopian reality although now it seems more like a prophecy. There are so many parallels to ingsoc (the philosophy 1984 follows) in our current reality. The book was also banned in several countries and states (you know you've written a great dystopian novel when the government starts banning it).

gonna start reading lolita!! it has such a cute name, im so excited to enjoy this book!!

alright, can't wait to finally watch Shanspeare's video essay on this cause i was wondering about it for a while off and on. her content always made me interested in how different the book is which is something beneficial for a writer to delve into. so, colour me not interested but sold, i suppose i will have to make room for it on this upcoming years leisure reads list. i feel i'm going to have too many thoughts lol, i'll try to stfu and JUST read, since that's a huge issue of mine and why it takes me so long to read things. now i know which covers to look out for when shopping for my copy <3 had to share.

side note: they're differently stalking me for these to both come up in my recs. lol i've been talking about possibly reading it with some frens. one online and one through text who's reading it for school/screenwriting class.

also, side note, do i look like the typ of mfer to be wanting your fuckin gender agenda? why tf did i get this ad? (not the first time either).

Happy New Year! 🎉

I've started Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, and I'm trying to figure out how I'm supposed to read this beyond disgust. What is the philosophy or whatever that I'm supposed to be garnering?

Dolores Haze: You’re depriving me of my civil rights.

Humbert Humbert: Where did you learn that language?

Dolores Haze: I’m intelligent.

Lolita 1997