A mystery novel that has found my trash can
Hooray!
A mystery novel. I agree with Matt’s view of the change in genre in part two. And, you know, for about eh… twenty pages I had a renewed interest in the book. This was until, I realized that, wait, I KNOW HOW IT ENDS. Am I suppose to, well maybe. I am sure that Nabokov would hope his reader is intelligent enough to look at the missed piano lessons, the “recent” change in Lolita’s attitude (obvious she was up to something), the dirty shoes and an obvious lie, being followed, and for Christ sake the tennis match, and say “ahhh its Quilty!” Regardless, it was certainly intended for me to figure that out on my own. No. Instead the thrill of following alongside a character in a mystery novel (which is turning out to be a fascinating mystery) is lost because of a crappy long-winded introduction and endless footnotes. Thanks, great. So, let us guess how this ends ummm…. Lolita runs away with Quilty… Humbert takes that gun he has recently picked up (and that Nabokov is continually reminding the reader of), and blast a whole in Clare’s head. Taking bets?
It was not my intent to ramble however, as a romantic of the mystery novel, I would have taken much more satisfaction in figuring this out without the aid of the introduction and such, even if it meant a second read. Does anyone else share this frustration? Oh, and count this.
A mystery novel. I agree with Matt’s view of the change in genre in part two. And, you know, for about eh… twenty pages I had a renewed interest in the book. This was until, I realized that, wait, I KNOW HOW IT ENDS. Am I suppose to, well maybe. I am sure that Nabokov would hope his reader is intelligent enough to look at the missed piano lessons, the “recent” change in Lolita’s attitude (obvious she was up to something), the dirty shoes and an obvious lie, being followed, and for Christ sake the tennis match, and say “ahhh its Quilty!” Regardless, it was certainly intended for me to figure that out on my own. No. Instead the thrill of following alongside a character in a mystery novel (which is turning out to be a fascinating mystery) is lost because of a crappy long-winded introduction and endless footnotes. Thanks, great. So, let us guess how this ends ummm…. Lolita runs away with Quilty… Humbert takes that gun he has recently picked up (and that Nabokov is continually reminding the reader of), and blast a whole in Clare’s head. Taking bets?
It was not my intent to ramble however, as a romantic of the mystery novel, I would have taken much more satisfaction in figuring this out without the aid of the introduction and such, even if it meant a second read. Does anyone else share this frustration? Oh, and count this.
posted by M at 9:04 AM
1 Comments:
But you can't approach this like a normal mystery novel. Most mystery novels are purely plot-based, built around the question of "what happens next," and this has come to influence our American styles of story-telling and story-ingesting. BUT, with a novel like this, it is a mistake to look at it so narrowly. There is much more to consider, such as the slow deterioration of Humbert's mental state, or the similar deterioration of his relationship with Lolita. And if you still want a mystery, how about this: HOW does he kill Quilty, and to what lengths does Quilty drive him that would make him think of murder? When dealing with characters like this, there is much more happening and developing than just the storyline.
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