Lolita
Lolita is a 1955 novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov. The novel is notable for its controversial subject: the protagonist and unreliable narrator, a middle-aged literature professor under the pseudonym Humbert Humbert, is obsessed with a 12-year-old girl, Dolores Haze, whom he sexually molests after he becomes her stepfather. "Lolita" is his private nickname for Dolores. The novel was originally written in English and first published in Paris in 1955 by Olympia Press. Later it was translated into Russian by Nabokov himself and published in New York City in 1967 by Phaedra Publishers.
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What you might want to know about Lolita
The questions readers send us most often, answered without spoilers.
Writing from a prison cell, a European literature professor named Humbert Humbert tells the story of moving in with a New England widow and what he did to her twelve-year-old daughter once the widow was gone.
Yes. Lolita has been banned at various points in many countries since its 1955 publication, primarily for its depiction of child sexual abuse from the perpetrator's perspective. It remains widely studied in literature courses.
Lolita is stylistically dazzling, with Nabokov's most ambitious English-language prose. The subject matter (Humbert Humbert's predation on a 12-year-old) is deeply disturbing, regardless of the prose. Many readers find the unreliable-narrator framing essential to understanding what the novel does.
Lolita was written by Vladimir Nabokov, published in 1955 by Sur.
Lolita is 336 pages in standard print editions, though page counts vary slightly between hardcover, paperback, and large-print formats.
At an average reading pace of about 250 words per minute, Lolita takes most readers 5 to 7 hours to finish.
Lolita is a standalone novel by Vladimir Nabokov, not part of a series.
Lolita is available in hardcover, paperback, ebook, and audiobook formats from Amazon, Bookshop.org, ThriftBooks, and most major bookstores.
