Jan 30 2003
88292923
jamelah request live
smg has spoken. i’m going to talk about some books, and why i believe that other people should pick up those books and read them. or, conversely, why other people should be spared the suffering. there’s only one book in my life right now, and i think i’ve already talked about my other recent reads here (recent being a relative term, of course) but i’ll be doing this sort of thing here & there in the future, as i stop being too frickin’ lazy to read and start reading more. that’s one of my new year’s resolutions, you know. anyway.
(smg wins my gold star blog reader prize for today. yay!)
lolita - vladimir nabokov. okay, yeah. i picked up this book in december and i’m still not done with it. typically, that would mean that i hate the book and don’t really feel any rush to get it finished. but in this case, it’s more that i’m too frickin’ lazy to read. i’m working on that. anyway, not being done with it means that i can’t talk about it in its entirety, but i can say a few things about my impressions so far. those would be:
1. you know the books that are classics and you feel like you should read them because of that? this is one of those. a lot of the time, when i read something that’s attained classic status, i come away wondering why. but that is not the case with lolita. i know exactly why this book is a classic. it’s a classic because it’s really damn good.
2. anyone who appreciates excellent prose craftsmanship should read this book. nabokov’s writing is intensely beautiful, and the story (at least what i’ve read of it so far) is incredibly well told. it says on page one that “you can always count on a murderer for a fancy prose style.” indeed.
3. the premise is sick, you know? i mean, humbert humbert is old enough to be lolita’s father. but the way he tells his love story is so compelling that the age thing is not the primary issue. that may seem like a strange thing to say, but trust me on this.
4. sometimes, it’s really funny.
i don’t have more to say right now, which means that i should finish the book. i’ll get to that before may, i promise.
