Lolita | Vladimir Nabokov

episode SUMMARY:

In this episode of the Books for Men podcast, Douglas Vigliotti discusses the (somewhat) controversial book Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov. Vigliotti acknowledges that the subject matter of the book, which involves an older man's obsession with a young girl, is disturbing and hard to read at times. However, he praises Nabokov's writing style, describing it as lyrical, beautiful, and unique. Vigliotti also explores the themes of persuasion, pedophilia, lust, taboos, and memory in the book. He encourages readers to engage with challenging and uncomfortable literature, emphasizing the importance of friction and the potential for growth and learning. Vigliotti concludes by inviting listeners to share the podcast to support the mission of inspiring more men to read and reminds listeners they can connect with him on Instagram @douglasvigliotti.

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Welcome back to Books for Men, a podcast to inspire more men to read and bring together men who do. This month I started off with a somewhat controversial author Charles Bukowski, who definitely will raise a few feathers depending on who you are and what your tastes are. So I figured why not double down on that and share another somewhat controversial author Vladimir Nabokov? Now, of course, he is highly regarded in the literary realm, but today's book, Lolita, tackles a very dicey subject matter, for lack of a better word, and I will probably elaborate a lot more in the very short future here. So I guess I should just start with the basics in case you're unaware of what the story is about. It's a literary classic. It's probably around 300 pages. The first came out in 1955, I think Knopf Doubleday, they did a re-release in the nineties or late eighties at some point.

(01:10)

That's the one that I read. And you should be aware that this book is highly regarded as one of the greatest novels ever written, or at least considered in the top 100. And when you look at the canon of literature and all of the books that have ever been written, that's saying something, so it doesn't come without critical acclaim. It's also been adapted as a film and a play many times, most notably, of course, by Stanley Kubrick in the sixties. And even more recently in the 2000s, the dad from Succession, Logan Roy, Brian Cox, plays the now famous protagonist Humbert Humbert in a one-man stage play, which is more like a sequel to the book. I never saw it, but I think it's a pretty cool concept. And that's all just to say that the story continues to live on. And I think it's interesting, that Nabokov himself has said, “Lolita is famous, not I, I am an obscure, doubly obscure novelist with an unpronounceable name.”

(02:12)

I always thought that was funny because the story is quite famous. And so you might be asking, well, what is that story? For those of you who don't know, I have already mentioned, that it's about Humbert Humbert, the now famous protagonist who is an English professor with a perverted obsession for a young girl. And nymphet is what Nabokov describes her as commonly, or Humbert refers to her as, her name is Dolores, but his nickname for her is Lolita. And it's really a sad and tragic story, one that if I'm being totally honest, it's very hard to read at times, especially since the subject matter is so perverse and so unthinkable in many aspects, right? I mean, this is an older man who is bidding for and outright obsessed with a very, very young girl. And like I said, it's just really hard to read at times because it's so disturbing in its content, but it really does raise a lot of interesting questions.

(03:18)

For one, how could somebody Nabokov write so beautifully about something so awful? And when I say so beautifully, I literally mean there's probably no better stylist of prose that I've ever read in my entire life. I remember when I first read this book, I said to myself, there's no way that I could ever do this, both in its content and also in its form. It's that distinct of a style on the page. I always equate this to, if you've ever watched Stevie Ray Vaughn play the guitar, his hands are moving up and down the neck, and he's playing with such speed, and sure he's in blues progressions or whatever, but stylistically it's unmistakably Stevie Ray Vaughan, and 99% of guitarists can't play like that. The same thing could be said for Vladimir Nabokov. His style is flamboyant. It's wordy, it's overly dramatic, but at the same time, it's effortless.

(04:17)

And so there's really just this unbelievable quality to the prose and the writing that is unlike almost everything that I've ever read. I mean, I can't think of another stylist that compares to Nabokov. And as I said, the reason why this is so important is that it poses this question of how could somebody write so beautifully about something so vile and so brutal and so grotesque. And this is perhaps why the book is even palatable. Also, what makes it so interesting because you have that built-in juxtaposition between the prose and the story itself. I always say there are two types of books that I really enjoy, one that I know I can't write, and that's this book. The second ones are ones that I think I could probably write because they're in my wheelhouse, but they execute what I believe to be flawlessly.

(05:18)

And by flawlessly, I mean whether it's the story or the prose, it's just a flawless execution of something that taste-wise I just really love. Then there's that whole middle ground that is kind of a miss for me. I don't really know how it fits. You pick up little things here and there that you might like and always looking for surprises, but they never quite land. Like the books that just blow your mind and you know, probably would never be able to do in any world, or the ones that blow your mind because they're executed so well to the preferences and

(05:57)

Tastes that you have, which sort of enables you to think that you can write that story. If not today, then one day. And then of course, thematically, the book deals with a lot of heavy stuff. I mean, you could probably gather that deals with persuasion, which, look, in this sense of persuasion, it's illegal, it's a crime, it's sad, it's tragic. You have an older man persuading a very young girl, and she doesn't understand reality really. And much can be said for kids as a whole. And so I think when you zoom out, it really serves as a great meta example of persuasion on youth as a whole, not just the loss of innocence in violation of a young girl. And of course, it deals with pedophilia and lust in taboos and jealousy. And then ultimately, what drives a man to the brink and the odd nature of one's memory, because oftentimes humper is recalling on his memory of the times he spent with Lolita, and are those really accurate or are they romanticized and blown out of proportion to create a very specific narrative in his mind?

(07:19)

Ultimately, these are all things that you will think about while reading it. And you might be saying, I don't know if I could ever do this. I don't know if I could read this book. And I get it, this isn't a beach read, so to speak, but I always like to challenge people with the idea of leaving morality out of the equation, especially when you are watching viewing reading any art. Morality does not belong in art. Unless, of course, it's a morality tale like The Boy Who Cried Wolf, or something of that nature. And in fact, this is probably one of my biggest gripes with a lot of modern entertainment as it seems that morality and ideological perspectives need to align with certain interest groups in order for certain things to actually get made. And so we see a lot of homogeneous stories and a lot of duplication of the same things that all depict very specific ideological stances.

(08:21)

And I get it. I'm fine with people having a voice, and I'm fine with art saying something. In fact, I hope it does most of the time because that is interesting to me. It has a point of view, it has perspective, right? But I also do believe that if you can't depict the immoral, then you're not doing a service to reality into an equality of point of view and perspective. And so I think that obviously with a book like this, it is hard to engage with. But I will say that friction is good. And if you sense a bit of tension and friction, that usually means you're on the path to learning something new and engaging with something that you are not too sure about and you don't know about. And that uncertainty and that danger and that risk is the reason why you feel a little bit of friction.

(09:20)

It doesn't mean you have to agree with the protagonist's choices or the things that they do in any capacity really. It just means that you shouldn't turn away from them because they're making you a little bit uncomfortable. And in my humble opinion, the best aspects of life or the most meaningful aspects, satisfying perhaps are on the other side of things that are hard, things that are difficult to do, whether it be internal or external. This book might be that for you. But I want to remind you of something that Nabokov himself has said: “Literature is an invention. Fiction is fiction to call a story. A true story is an insult to both art and truth.” And I was going to elaborate a little bit, but I think this is a good place to stop. I will let you stew on that quote instead, and hopefully, you will pick up Lolita and read it, if not for anything else, then to witness that prose that I led this episode off with.

(10:25)

But I do understand it might be a challenge for some people to read, understandably. With that being said, if you enjoyed today's episode, then I do want to encourage you to share it with friends and family members or other people who you think might enjoy it because word of mouth is everything when we're trying to spread awareness. And what this podcast specifically, it's to inspire more men to read. And I'd love for you to double down on that support by rating, liking, following, subscribing, or any of that good stuff on whatever podcast platform you're listening to this on. And remember, you can always reach out to me on Instagram @douglasvigliotti. It's the only social media that I have. And lastly, for more information, you could visit BooksforMen.org where you can get full transcripts for every episode, as well as sign up for the newsletter, which is a monthly roundup of every episode complete with full book and author information, all the best quotes. There will be many from Lolita in this month's newsletter, as well as newsletter-only book recommendations. So again, if you want to sign up for that, you could do so at BooksforMen.org.