Lolita | Vladimir Nabokov

When reviewing a book such as Nabokov's "Lolita", you must perform somewhat of a balancing act. This, of course, is due to the subject matter of pedophilia. If you could imagine such a balancing act performed on a simple review in 2008, could you imagine the balancing act performed as an author in 1955? From my point of view, Nabokov handles this balance very well while at the same time producing a story that is believable, gut-wrenching and even sympathetic.

The connection Nabokov creates with the reader is the main reason why this novel is a classic that has withstood the test of time. Nabokov makes you feel sympathy for his main character (Humbert Humbert) while at the same time feeling complete and utter disgust for such a gruesome man. These back and forth emotions that he creates within the reader leaves you exasperated and questioning all guidelines created by society. While the result of your struggle is "this is wrong", it is hard to define specific boundaries. Could you imagine being in charge of a government where you had to draw a line in the sand to determine when a child became an adult and when he/she could now be blamed in the eyes of the law? Should the line be the same for those "children" who kill people? When do they have the wherewithal to know the ramifications for their actions?

While a child may know that to hit someone creates pain and that a bullet can also cause pain, do they really have a concept on the difference between pain and death? At what age can they fathom the difference?

The truth is, it's different with every person. I think Nabokov's purpose for writing this novel is to make you think about the ramifications of drawing lines in the sand or painting anything with a broad brush. Sometimes it is necessary, but there will always be exceptions to the rule.

In the case of "Lolita", Humbert Humbert tries to persuade himself (and you) that the "relationship" COULD be viewed from many different angles. While he himself admits it is WRONG and DESPICABLE, he cannot curb his own desires... pedophilia is indeed a sickness.

Whether you abhor Nabokov for writing such a work or not is really up to you. My opinion is simply that Nabokov wrote a fascinating novel about a man's struggle with a sickness which elicits many different emotions within a reader and causes him to question where a line turns from white to black.

Note: I almost forgot to get into the prose!

The fact that Nabokov wrote this novel in English and not his native Russian (he is fluent in 4 languages), is impressive. His mastery of the English language is nothing short of remarkable. The constant desire to use french without explanations was a little distracting, but this point is a minor one. Nabokov is more of a descriptive writer than an emotional one, but his descriptions are absolutely beautiful. I prefer feeling to description (see Dostoevsky, Pasternak, Turgenev), but there is no denying the beauty contained within these pages.

The Tipping Point | Malcolm Gladwell

If you're looking to read real literature, something that seems as if Mother Nature herself had graced plain white pages with the knowledge of the world, you're not going to find it in Malcolm Gladwell's book "The Tipping Point." However, you will find a series of thoughts strung together around a central theme - what makes books, crime, shoes, etc "tip." This is essentially the point where either the mainstream gets ahold of a product and starts to buy it or something either becomes an epidemic (ie: Harry Potter), or regresses from an epidemic (ie: crime in NY).

This book was not as "wow" as the follow-up novel "Blink" by Gladwell, but it did have a certain charm. While I am sure that there are many who think he is uncovering something completely fascinating that has an explanation for how the world works, to me, he just seems to string thoughts together to make an intelligent, but not omnipotent, argument.

That being said, the book has a great flow to it and has everything that I would read it for. My main interest is learning about random subjects that I would otherwise never hear about, and analyzing some of the interesting psychological experiments that Malcolm partially delves into. For those people who have an insane interest in psychology but do not wish to read other 'thicker' psychology texts or articles, this book presents experiments in an easy to read manner. While deductions are harder to make, due to the fact that there is no way this book can do anything but create a synopsis of experiments, it is a very enjoyable way to have a glimpse into topics that might otherwise not be researched.

On the whole, an enjoyable read with ideas that may stick with you; an argument that will do little to sway your thinking on how epidemics tip, but simply provide a framework for looking at how the world sometimes works.

Seymour, An Introduction | J.D. Salinger

This book is not really about being a recluse, but details the life of Seymour Glass from his brother's perspective. "Seymour, An Introduction" is Salinger's last work and appears to be written for the sake of getting it all out. It lacks direction and purpose, and is as eccentric as Salinger himself.

For those in search of Salinger, this story seems to full of what he calls "delicious lies." My opinion of the story, is that it lacked truth. Salinger has gone to great lengths to let you believe this is truth, but in short, this story just adds to the Salinger mystery. By the end, I had no idea what to think anymore.

Salinger acknowledges that this book is for him and him alone, which I find evident. While some may garner a point from this story, I must admit that if there is one, it has gone over my head.

I only wrote down one quote, so here it is...

"When Seymour was twenty-one, a nearly full professor of English, and had already been teaching for two years, I asked him what, if anything, got him down about teaching. He said he didn't think that anything about it got him exactly down, but there was one thing, he thought, that frightened him: reading the pencilled notations in the margins of books in the colledge library." 168