قصة الكتاب :
“Lolita” is a novel by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov who lived most of his life in the United States where he attacked the Soviet experience. He published his novel in 1955 in Paris after multiple publishing houses rejected it, justifying their rejection by the claim that the novel falls under the Erotic Literature category. However, three years later, the novel was published in America and became the pocket book for many Americans. Lolita was included in the list of 100 Best Novels of All Time, and due to the controversy it caused around the world the novel became a world literature classic. It was adapted into film by director Stanley Kubrick in 1962 and written by Nabokov himself. The novel was adapted into another film in 1997 which was directed by Adrian Lyne. Children Protection against Sexual Abuse organizations do not list “Lolita” in the banned literature category.
The novel’s protagonist is Humbert Humbert who is obsessed with the 12-year-old Annabel Leigh who dies later. He suggests his unconsummated love for her caused his fixation with \"nymphets\" (girl-children aged 9 to 14 that he finds sexually attractive). He tried psychological treatment to get rid of his obsession. Later on he marries a French woman who insulted him on many occasions and led him to become bankrupt. After a mental breakdown, he moves to the small New England town of Ramsdale where he rents a room owned by a widow called Charlotte Haze and her 12-year-old daughter, Dolores. He immediately becomes infatuated with her teenage appearance, behavior, rashness and features, and becomes so obsessed with her that he decides to marry her mother just to be close to her. Charlotte is oblivious to Humbert\'s distaste for her, as well as his lust for Lolita, until she reads his diary. But fate intervenes on Humbert\'s behalf: as Charlotte runs across the street in a state of shock, she is struck and killed by a passing car. Now he is all alone with Dolores, or “Lolita”, as he calls her.
In an attempt to seduce her, Humbert drives Lolita around the country, moving from state to state and motel to motel and giving her the choice of accepting her stepfather into her life on his terms or facing foster care. The girl spends two years away from Humbert after she escapes with a novelist she met in school. Humbert kills the novelist, but Lolita refuses to go back with him. Instead, she marries a poor man and becomes pregnant. Eventually, she dies while giving birth, and Humbert is imprisoned. In his prison, he writes his diary as a final attempt to maintain his relationship with Lolita.
Critics believe that the novel reflects the inner aspects of the human self and the human beings’ sexual orientations and obsession. But they reject its classification as an erotic or sexually exciting literary work since it contains no detailed description of the sexual intercourse save for some indications here and there. Moreover, the critics point out the importance of the research carried out by the writer to study the behaviors of girls in that particular age as well as the sarcastic language they use, which all in all contributed to the widespread fascination with his novel.