Tuesday, April 03, 2007

Ramblings

I haven't been posting here because I have been rolling up to my eyeballs in work (is that even an expression?).

General thoughts: I liked Lolita, although I found my concentration waning through Part II, as the writing becomes more fractious.

Humbert Humbert's confrontation with Clare Quilty reminds me of the scene in White Noise, when Jack Gladney tries to execute Willie Mink. In both scenes, there's this great sense that the protagonists find the realization of their revenge fantasy far from satisfying. In the end, both events rapidly become absurd and emasculating experiences for the main characters.

The character I felt for the most is not surprisingly, Lolita. Due to the connotations of Lolita in the English language, I have always imagined Dolores Haze to some extent as the willing participant in Humbert Humbert's fantasies. It was disturbing at the end of Part I to realize that this is not to be the case. The minor observations of the realities of Lolita's life with Humbert Humbert is tragic and heart breaking.