Lolita, a Controversial Masterpiece

It is about forbidden passion—forbidden love even—according to some readers. It has added a word to the English language that signifies a sexually precocious young girl. It has sparked two film adaptations, countless Halloween costume designs, and an impressive amount of controversy. It has been on my "to-read" list for ages. I read it. I loved it.

One thing I want to say before I go any further is that Lolita is not for everyone. Although I'm sure its reputation proceeds it, you should know that it is an erotic book (but not erotica!) in the sense that man in his late 30s sexually desires a girl of 12. Hence, the controversy. To obtain its status as a classic novel, however, it would have to be more than a one dimensional, erotic book—and it is. So much more.

I think if your first inclination after reading this post is that you would like to read it, then you should, if not, then you shouldn't. Pretty much the same as with any book, except that people get weird with classics. They feel obligated to read them sometimes. Don't.

Even though it was written in English rather than Vladamir Nabokov's native Russian, this book is a stylistic masterpiece, in my opinion. Its rich eloquence makes it hard to believe that English was not Nabokov's first language. It is written in the first person from the perspective of its notorious unreliable narrator, who chooses to go by the pseudonym Humbert Humbert.

He is middle-aged, European literary scholar who moves to a small New England town in 1947 in hopes that he will be able to write in peace. Renting a room in the home of Charlotte Haze, a widow, he is immediately mesmerized by her precocious twelve year old daughter, Dolores. She becomes his reason to stay in a place that he would have left immediately otherwise. His obsession grows, and although he tries to fight it at first, events turn unexpectedly in his favor, partly of his own devising, partly not.

I have been known to put a book back on the shelf if I disliked the opening paragraph, but the opening of this story is one of the best I've ever read:

     Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta.
     She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock. She was Lola in slacks. She was Dolly at school. She was Dolores on the dotted line. But in my arms she was always Lolita.
     Did she have a precursor? She did, indeed she did. In point of fact, there might have been no Lolita at all had I not loved, one summer, a certain initial girl-child. In a princedom by the sea. Oh when? About as many years before Lolita was born as my age was that summer. You can always count on a murderer for a fancy prose style.
     Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, exhibit number one is what the seraphs, the misinformed, simple, noble-winged seraphs, envied. Look at this tangle of thorns. 

Lolita is often categorized as a tragicomedy, because Humbert Humbert's narration isn't without its humorous moments. His wry observations of American culture light up the story, which is often disturbing and, yes, tragic in its way.

Nabokov was unable to find an American publisher for Lolita when he finished writing it in 1953, so he published it in Paris in 1955. It was later banned in Britain and France in 1956 for two years. Finally, it was  published without much resistance in New York in 1958. It was the first book since Gone with the Wind by Margaret Mitchell to sell 100,000 copies in its first three weeks of publication.

Below I have included an interesting video from the 1950s CBC program, Close Up, which was known for addressing controversial issues. In this episode, which is in two parts, Vladamir Nabokov discusses Lolita with the hosts. I find it especially interesting that Lolita was published in the 1950s in America, which is arguably the most socially repressed decade of the 20th century. The discussion in the video is surprisingly open-minded. To continue to the second part of the video, click video 2 when this video ends.

Alice I Have Been

Most of us know the familiar beginning of the story Alice's Adventures in Wonderland by Lewis Carrol, which so brilliantly captures the spirit of childhood:

Alice was beginning to get very tired of sitting by her sister on the bank and of having nothing to do: once or twice she had peeped into the book her sister was reading, but it had no pictures or conversations in it, "and what is the use of a book," thought Alice, "without pictures or conversations?"

What many of us don't know, however, is that Lewis Carrol was the pen name of the Oxford mathematics professor, Charles Lutwidge Dodgson, and that Alice was Alice Liddell, the daughter of Henry Liddell, Dean of Christ Church, Oxford. I remember watching a travel channel show about Oxford and learning that the iconic character Alice was based on a real little girl, but it wasn't until I read Alice I Have Been that I learned some of the details of her life and her relationship with the shy, stuttering professor, whose image has been dwarfed by his own tales.

This is a novel, not non-fiction, but the story is based on facts. Thankfully, the author, Melanie Benjamin, included a blissfully enlightening afterward that explains where fact and fiction overlap. Kudos to her, because I believe that that is a must-have for all works of fiction that utilize real people and true events. What Benjamin does successfully in this novel is create a portrait of a time period that we have very definite opinions about: the Victorian era. Whether we curse its prudishness or crave its supposed innocence and stability, there's no denying that we have our own modern prejudices regarding it.

It is Alice's world. Her father is the Dean of Christ Church, and she and her sisters are the princesses of Oxford. The story begins in 1859 with the rebellious, seven year old Alice, dressed in her stifling petticoats, and the young professor, Mr. Charles Dodgson, offering to take the girls off of their governess' hands for an afternoon adventure. They went on many such adventures.

Some of their afternoons were captured in photographs because, as an early photographer, Dodgson was a novelty, even more-so because he took portraits when landscapes were the norm. His passion for photography proves to be fundamental to Benjamin's storyline, and she provides some fascinating insights into Victorian perceptions of photography, particularly photographs of children, in her afterward. As you can see in the portrait below, the real Alice was not a blonde, as she is usually depicted, but a brunette.

"Alice as Beggar Girl" by Charles Lutwidge Dodgson

As Alice grows older, her friendship with Mr. Dodgson is cut off. There are whispers about why, and we follow her as the mystery haunts her into young womanhood and, finally, old age, as she struggles to balance her true self with the famous Alice of Wonderland, created by the man she once favored above all others.

This is a beautiful book that captures the mindset of childhood and presents the complexities of human relationships. It will immerse you in the Victorian era and challenge you to see it in a new light. I have never been a huge fan of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland, but I find the real people behind the story irresistible.

Relevant Reads:

• The Mystery of Lewis Carroll: Discovering the Whimsical, Thoughtful, and Sometimes Lonely Man Who Created Alice in Wonderland by Jenny Woolf
• The Real Alice in Wonderland: A Role Model for the Ages by C.M. and Gabriela Rubin

The Secret History of Dreaming by Robert Moss

The Secret History of Dreaming kind of fell into my lap, and that's something its author, Robert Moss, would be delighted to hear. As the creator of what he calls Active Dreaming, which he has based on contemporary dream-work and shamanic traditions, Moss believes that coincidences should not be readily dismissed. Nor should dreams.

On the day that I found The Secret History of Dreaming I was in a hurry. I stopped by the library so I could pick up a book that I had on reserve, but I was already running late for a party. On my way down one of the isles, it caught my eye. It was positioned at the end of a row, so I could see the front cover rather than the spine. I looked directly at it, read the cover, picked it up without thinking, and checked it out along with my other book. It wasn't until a couple of days later that I was able to sit down and look at it. I was immediately intrigued.

Instead of being categorized purely as history, this book is classified as personal growth/history because it has a spiritual element to it. On the back cover it says that it's about, "how dreams drive the human adventure: evolution, science, literature, religion, war, politics, and survival," and that sums it up perfectly.

What Moss does in the first half of the book, "Secret Engines of History," is present the different perceptions of dreaming and dreams in different periods and cultures in history. He has found, through what he calls "dream archaeology" that, for most of human history, our dreams were valued for their ability to reveal things that were hidden from us during our waking hours. He believes that our dreams have historically helped us adapt, grow, and survive and that we have lost touch with the ability to tap into the wisdom that they reveal to us. This divide becomes clear as he presents evidence to back up his claim that people used to revere dreams as a source supreme enlightenment. Today they are believed by most to be nothing more than a reflexive mental function.

In the second half of the book, "Masters of the Three 'Only' Things," Moss really hits home. He explains the effect the dreams of several iconic figures had on history as we know it. Using real historical evidence, he shows how the three "only" things—dreams, coincidence, and imagination—intersected in these famous lives to create the familiar stories we now recognize as the consequences of their actions on history (for more information on the three "only" things, check out Moss's book, The Three "Only" Things: Tapping the Power of Dreams, Coincidence, and Imagination, which is also an interesting read).

The amazing historical figures that Moss focuses on include: Mark Twain (my personal favorite) Joan of Arc, Harriet Tubman, Winston Churchill, Carl Jung, and Wolfgang Puck. This book added a whole new dimension to my perceptions of these people, taking them out of the molds they've been put into by countless textbook accounts.

I think this book has a lot to offer anyone because its stories are both moving and enlightening. Its ratings are consistently high on both Amazon and Goodreads, as they are for his other books. It is my belief that the best authors give their readers something to think about, and Moss certainly does that in The Secret History of Dreaming.

Click here to view an interesting Q&A with Robert Moss and learn more about the unique process he used to research and write about dreams. A more elusive subject is hard to imagine, after all.

Relevant Reads:

• Active Dreaming: Journeying Beyond Self-Limitation to a Life of Wild Freedom by Robert Moss
• The Three "Only" Things: Tapping the Power of Dreams, Coincidence, and Imagination by Robert Moss

Perfume: The Story of a Murderer by Patrick Suskind

With a title such as that, how could you fail to be intrigued? I stumbled upon this gem in the BBC's Big Read, which chronicles England's best-loved books based on popular opinion. Currently ranking at number 71, Perfume: The Story of a Murderer captivates the senses in a unique and inspiring way—through scent, of course. While most authors focus on scent sparingly at best, Suskind decided to base his book entirely on a character with a supernaturally sensitive nose and no conscience.

When I first started reading Perfume I got the immediate and pleasurable feeling that I was reading a fable or twisted fairy tale. Originally published in German in 1985, Perfume makes me think of a Grimm's fairy tale. I can honestly say I've never read anything quite like it. I begins like this:

In eighteenth-century France there lived a man who was one of the most gifted and abominable personages in an era that knew no lack of gifted and abominable personages. His name was Jean-Baptiste Grenouille, and if his name—in contrast to the names of other gifted abominations, de Sade's, for instance, or Saint-Just's, Fouche's, Bonaparte's, etc.—has been forgotten today, it is certainly not because Grenouille fell short of those more famous blackguards when it came to arrogance, misanthropy, immmorality, or, more succinctly, to wickedness, but because his gifts and his sole ambition were restricted to a domain that leaves no traces in history: to the fleeting realm of scent.

As you can see, the style of the writing compliments the story that is being told. The reader gets the feeling that this particular oddity of a story has been overlooked over time, crowded out by the more typical, predictable stories of human depravity. The darker the story got, the more engrossing it became. Interestingly, although the subject is a bit on the dark side, it is balanced out by an equal amount of humor. There were many scenes when I found myself laughing out loud.

It begins in 18th century Paris with the (dare I call him hero?), Jean-Baptiste Grenouille. From birth he is propelled by his unique sense of smell. He has the ability to enjoy pleasant smells more completely than others, but he is also incessantly overpowered by the repugnant scents of the overcrowded, often fetid city of his birth.

We follow Jean-Baptiste as he grows older, willfully naming each scent as he comes across it, until he has chronicled thousands of them in his powerful memory. This is the story of a journey, strange as its twists and turns may be. Dragging himself out of poverty, he becomes an apprentice to a well-known but faltering perfumer and begins his obsessive journey to create the most perfect perfume ever known.

The language that Suskind uses in this book to describe Jean-Baptiste's world, which is inseparable from his gift/curse, is truly electrifying. Descriptions of scent are peppered sparingly throughout most pieces of writing and, for that reason alone, this book is worth reading. I will not reveal the ravenous ending, but, rest assured, it will not leave you disappointed.

There appears to be a film version that was made in 2006. It has two of my favorite actors in it, Dustin Hoffman and Alan Rickman, so I'm glad I read the book before I knew about the film or I might have broken down and watched it before I read it—cardinal sin number one for compulsive readers! I have faith that you will be strong. Read it.

Relevant Reads:

• The Collector by John Fowles
• Nights at the Circus by Angela Carter

Dear Compulsive Reader, Herein Lies Your Salvation

Hello, my name is Casey and I am a compulsive reader. Since I can remember, I have had a "to-read" list that is entirely unmanageable. I add books to it far faster than I can cross them off, and the fact that most of the books I'm interested in are at least 400 pages in length does nothing to help my situation. If you're a compulsive reader too, you're in the right place. If you aren't sure whether you're a compulsive reader or not, perhaps I can be of some assistance.

Do you . . .

1. Have an astronomically long "to-read" list?
2. Practically get the chills when walking into a library or bookstore?
3. Spend more time on Amazon, Goodreads, or similar websites searching for new books than you do checking your email/Facebook page/Twitter profile etc.?
4. Have a Kindle?
5. Desperately desire a Kindle?
6. Assign daily, weekly, monthly, or yearly reading goals?
7. Habitually leave the library with an uncomfortably large stack of books that you know you won't get to anyway? (They seduced you, didn't they? Sneaky little bastards.)
8. Get strange looks from people who don't understand your frenzied curiosity?
9. Give strange looks to people who don't understand your frenzied curiosity?

10. Countdown on your calendar to the dates when the books you've been waiting for are coming out?

If you answered yes to five or more of these questions, I am simultaneously grieved and pleased to inform you that, yes, you are indeed a compulsive reader. This site is for you.

I read an awful lot, yet I don't think it's enough. There are bookworms, and then there are bookworms on steroids. In this blog, I hope to introduce people to a wide variety of books, on a wide variety of topics. I think the reason I enjoy reading so much is that I enjoy learning so much, and reading is self-education.

Since I am partial to certain subjects and find others repulsive, I cannot promise to be of much assistance when it comes to math, science, or technology and their decidedly bland offspring. But if you are drawn to things that are off the beaten path—more artistic, more eclectic, more eccentric—then, please, do stick around.