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.
Stats for nerds
41recommend
126mentions
117people
2008–2026years
35% recommend61% neutral4% critical
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- Literature should be able to explore tough topics and spark discussion. There are numerous interpretations of reading a book.. for example, if in the book it is written that a 10 year old had sex with a 30 year old, that could be the fantasy of the 30 year old and you can use it to explore the mind of a pedophile.
Also, reading this of course Lolita comes to mind. To this day, one of the best books I have read (although Pale Fire is the more literarily impressive one of Nabokov). Lolita is an example of a book that explores a complex controversial topic, with an unreliable narrator which forces the reader to think about what is actually happening and what is not.
Banning books and not allowing content such as this, where clearly no child is actually harmed, is insane.
Edit: the novel in the article takes the point of view of the (potential) minor rather than the adult. Doesn’t really change my point, in my opinion.
- When you look at something like Pietà by Michelangelo or Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov, you realise that some humans are given abilities that far exceed your own and that you will never reach their level.
When this happens, you need to stop and appreciate the sheer genius of the creator.
This is one of those posts.
- Reading literary fiction is such an enriching activity in life, I highly recommend it. If you don't know where to start (and you need to retrain your attention span), pick up an audiobook. I started with Jeremy Iron's reading of Lolita. Nabokov's prose read in Iron's voice will make a believer out of anyone.
- There's also just the curiosity type, like a friend i have. similarly, people who aren't pervs read Nabokov's Lolita, because Nabokov writes amazingly, and it's just one of his books.
- > Writing a good argument requires 3 things: be logical, be compelling and likeable, and have a solid reputation. It does not require purple prose.
That's a common misconception that young writers have. Their prose is first purple and overwrought, then they overcorrect and try to be Hemmingway, then they master the craft and discover that form follows function.
As such, the "purpleness" of prose is not an indictment of any sort except if the style doesn't serve the substance. So yes, purple prose is sometimes required and can be used correctly, just ask James Joyce or Hitchens or remember that first sentence in Lolita, for example.
Furthermore, almost every piece of writing you've probably enjoyed went through an editor or several professional editors. You'd be shocked to read early or even late drafts.
(Also, a having "solid reputation" has f' all to do with whether you can construct a good argument. Wanting that as a prerequisite is what the cool kids used to call "appeal to authority". Anyway ...)
But wtf are we even talking about now?
> Besides, surpassing most humans in an area where most humans are unskilled is not a feat, not even AI companies flex on that.
I don't care what "AI companies flex". What I care about, as a programmer, and as an artist, and as a writer who won a tiny prize in my even tinier and insignificant niche on the planet, is what tools we can build for the average person and what tools I have access to.
If I have a robot that is 50% stronger than me or 10x better read than the average human or 20% better than the average mathematician, that's a huge victory. So yes, surpassing the average human is a feat.
But it's not merely the average human who has been surpassed: the average mathematician (skilled in mathematics) and the average artists (skilled in art) and the average writer, have all been surpassed. That is my testable claim. Play with the tools, and see for yourself.
- I have not yet read Pale Fire, but I loved Lolita and hope to read it soon. Nabokov's writing is so rich, the writing itself (aside from the story!) is worth lingering over and savoring. I've only found a few other writers with a similar quality - Proust, Milton, perhaps Cormac McCarthy and Toni Morrison. Does anyone know of authors with a similar property? I'm not even sure what to call it, so it's difficult to search for.
