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Gary Shteyngart recommended Pnin in Books (curated)

 
Pnin
Pnin
Vladimir Nabokov | 2000 | Contemporary, Fiction & Poetry
(0 Ratings)
Book Favorite

"Best damn academic novel ever. Imagine Lolita without the child abuse."

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Andy K (10823 KP) created a poll

Jul 28, 2018  
Poll
Best Kubrick film (the greatest director of all time)

Fear and Desire

0 votes

Killer's Kiss

0 votes

The Killing

0 votes

Paths of Glory

0 votes

Spartacus
Lolita

0 votes

Dr. Strangelove or: How I Learned to Stop Worrying and Love the Bomb
2001: A Space Odyssey
A Clockwork Orange
Barry Lyndon

0 votes

The Shining
Full Metal Jacket
Eyes Wide Shut

0 votes

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Nick Cave recommended Lolita in Books (curated)

 
Lolita
Lolita
Vladimir Nabokov | 2011 | Fiction & Poetry
3.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Favorite

"I’ve sent both my older kids Lolita and advised them to read the first chapter. They’re older than when I had it read to me – I was about 12. I didn’t read the whole thing [at the time]. The point was the first chapter is very short, half a page. It’s undeniably beautiful even to a young child, to someone who doesn’t really understand."

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Alison Pink (7 KP) rated Lolita in Books

Jan 15, 2018  
Lolita
Lolita
Vladimir Nabokov | 2011 | Fiction & Poetry
6
3.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
I find myself at a loss on what to say about this book. At times I was throughly engrossed in the story and fascinated by what made Humbert do the things he did. I often found myself wondering why Lolita didn't seek out an escape much sooner. Then there were points where I was utterly bored, where nothing really happened and the story just seemed to drag on and on with no end in sight.
With all that being said the book was okay. Not one of the best ever writen as many argue though and not one I will likely ever pick up again.
  
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Terrence McNally recommended Lolita in Books (curated)

 
Lolita
Lolita
Vladimir Nabokov | 2011 | Fiction & Poetry
3.5 (2 Ratings)
Book Favorite

"I read this book in high school when it was first published. It had the reputation of being “dirty.” It did not disappoint: I was all of 14. It was also deliciously funny. It still is. Its status is secure and I doubt there’s a “Best” list it’s not on. It’s wildly romantic, scathingly satiric of middle-class Americans as only a European aristocrat can see us, and ultimately deeply moving. Lolita is the light of everyone’s loins. Humbert Humbert’s despair is anyone’s who has loved and lost in vain. Nabokov “gets” America and Americans. He is one of the great writers in English and it wasn’t even his first language."

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TT
The Truth About the Harry Quebert Affair
6
6.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
I'll be honest and say that none of the characters within this really gripped me into the point where I wanted to know more about that person and I wanted the story to progress in their direction, however it was an enjoyable story line. Lolita with murder.

As much as I liked this book, Dicker wasn't able to explain to me why Nola fell in love with Harry, it never explained that infatuation they had for each other deep enough for me to be able to get the love affair. As similar this book is to other books, it still had some sort of edge to it that made me keep on reading. The ending was a predictable shock, but nevertheless, I didn't mind the read. Not as good as it was made out to be.
  
Giovanni's Room
Giovanni's Room
James Baldwin | 2007 | Essays
8
9.0 (2 Ratings)
Book Rating
This is one of those great works of literature where despite loathing the protagonist, the prose is so magnificent you can see past it - almost. It definitely reminded me of Nabokov's renowned tale Lolita where you detest Humbert Humbert, but it's still a masterpiece.

This is the story of an American David, set in the 1950s-1960s, who begins a tumultuous love affair with an Italian man in Paris, while deciding whether to marry his fiancee. He is arrogant, selfish, spoilt and horribly flawed to the point you just think he's more evil than misguided. He can't admit to himself that he is gay, but instead strings along everyone around him and says he's punishing himself. In the end, his lack of character destroys everyone around him including himself but in a very different way. Massively misogynistic at times and I'm not sure if it was the author's intention or a reflection of how he also sees women. Beautifully written nonetheless.
  
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Zuky the BookBum (15 KP) rated Tampa in Books

Mar 15, 2018  
Tampa
Tampa
Alissa Nutting | 2013 | Fiction & Poetry
8
6.0 (4 Ratings)
Book Rating
This book is meant to shock! Based on the case of Florida teacher Debra Lafave, this book explores a taboo subject with a twist. Not as often do you hear of a female teacher having an affair with a student, so it's a great book that flips this subject on its head to reveal a shocking double standard that's sadly present in our society.

I was so interested in where this story was going and how it was going to end that I hardly put it down! Definitely a NSFW book with some rather graphic scenes. Don't expect this book to be anything like Lolita in the sense that Nabokov writes in a such a way that you catch yourself slipping and feeling sorry for Humbert on occasion, Nutting makes no efforts to make us feel sorry for Celeste, she's presented as a lust driven woman who will stop at nothing to fufill her desires.

By liking this book I am not condoning the actions written within, I simply found this a fascinating read. Very different to anything I've read before.
  
A Pleasure and a Calling
A Pleasure and a Calling
Phil Hogan | 2015 | Fiction & Poetry
10
10.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Also read my review here: http://bookbum.weebly.com/book-reviews/a-pleasure-and-a-calling-by-phil-hogan

<b><I>You won’t remember Mr Heming. He showed you round your comfortable home, suggested a sustainable financial package, negotiated a price with the owner and called you with the good news. The less good news is that, all these years later, he still has the key.

That’s absurd, you laugh. Of all the many hundreds of houses he has sold, why would he still have the key to mine?

The answer to that is, he has the keys to them all.</b></i>

This is a truly chilling novel. With such a unique plot line, excellent narration and beautiful descriptions, I’m amazed this hasn’t found itself being more popular. After scanning this books lower reviews, I can understand some people's frustrations with this because they were expecting a thriller, and while this technically does class as a thriller, it’s not what most people associate with thrillers. When you think of a thriller, you think Jason Bourne, fast-paced, exciting, and, of course, thrilling, so when you open this to find it’s slow-paced narration of Heming’s day-to-day life you’re going to be a bit miffed. So don’t go into this thinking your socks are going to be blown off in super fast-paced action.

Heming is a seriously unreliable narrator. Thanks to his wonderful storytelling, we’re drawn into his life, eager to know what happens next with almost no regard to the horrible things he’s actually doing! The narration is amazing at masking the creepiness of the situations Heming puts himself into, making you want to like his character, when really we know we shouldn’t.

Each character in this novel was presented in an excellent way, giving you enough to know about them without things becoming confusing and too heavy. As for the plot, well, what can I say? It was magnificent! It was so well thought out and solidly presented. I had wanted to read this novel for such a long time, I’m remarkably pleased it didn’t let me down, not even in the slightest!

I don’t have a lot more to say about this other than I loved it completely, I don’t think it let itself down at all and I was prepared for it to be a slow moving, almost dream like novel (which is a writing style I personally adore). In many ways, this is a very Lolita-esque novel, the unreliable narrator, the slow moving pace, in-depth and beautiful descriptions, deep infatuation etc etc, so if Lolita was a novel you enjoyed, for all of those reasons, then definitely give this a try.
  
All the Ugly and Wonderful Things
All the Ugly and Wonderful Things
Bryn Greenwood | 2016 | Fiction & Poetry
10
9.4 (7 Ratings)
Book Rating
Firstly, I'd like to thank Netgalley and St Martin's Press for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review.

NOW AVAILABLE IN THE UK!

Full review here too: http://bit.ly/1qZtGhP

<i><b>”Right up until that moment it was sweet and funny. Odd couple that they were, they had a real connection. Then he tugged her boot off and kissed the bottom of her bare foot. I could see him doing that kind of thing to his own kid, but she wasn’t. She was somebody else’s little girl.”</i></b>

I am an <b>emotional wreck.</b> How has this book set my moral compass so askew? How could I have possibly been crying over a relationship between a grown man and a minor? I was distraught kinda crying, not a horrified or disgusted kinda crying either! I know I’m being a sheep when I say this but <b>wow, this is amazing!</b> I was so worried I'd dislike this book because it was so hyped up but it did not disappoint, not even a little bit.

You’ll be amazed at how well Greenwood has reinvented the adult-male-child-female relationship that we see all too often in novels and films. She’s managed to completely turn the disgusting, abusive image on its head. The love between Kellen and Wavy is the truest and realist love I've seen in a book for a seriously long time. There is absolutely <i>no</i> comparison between Kellen and Wavy with Humbert and Lolita, it’s not that sort of book. There are some people who, undoubtedly, are not going to like this book or the message it’s putting across, but you have to know that there is nothing evil in this age gap relationship as you would first guess there to be.

I can almost understand why Kellen and Wavy fall in love so quickly and so passionately. Wavy has had such a horrible existence, with her abusive, drug addicted father and her horrible mother who doesn’t care for anyone but herself. Wavy is her own person, even from the beginning of this story, she may only be 8 years old but she’s already a woman, she’s had to live her life looking after herself and her baby brother, she already knows what it is to be an adult, so it’s no surprise she springs into adulthood at such a full force. And then there is Kellen, he’s lonely and undesirable <i>(apparently)</i> and he’s also bullied by the people around him he calls “friends”. So when Wavy comes along and looks at him and treats him like he’s the most wonderful person in the world, it’s not really a surprise that a strong bond grows between them almost instantly.

I believe that at the beginning of their relationship there is no sexual desire, I honestly think their relationship is one of friendship and love in a more uncle and niece kind of way, but soon enough these feelings become something more. Kellen, although he does desire sexual gratification, knows his feelings are misplaced and so there is nothing dark and evil about his feeling towards Wavy, and for me, this makes him one of the best male character I’ve read about in a long time, no matter if he’s a paedophile or not. He's an incredible man and I absolutely loved him.

This book is a serious roller coaster of emotions and had me blubbering like a baby for the last 10%, or more, of the book. I am in love with this book, so thank you <i>very</i> much Bryn Greenwood for this amazing novel and giving me the chance to read it before publication! I’ve already recommended this to friends and family and I can’t wait to read more of Greenwood’s writing.


<spoiler>I am over the moon with how this ended, I was rooting for their relationship to last throughout the whole thing, as sick as that makes me sound. Thank you Greenwood for the happy ending!</spoiler>