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One of the most fascinating and controversial novels of the twentieth century, Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita is renown for its innovative style and notorious for its subject matter and influence on popular culture. A Reader's Guide to Nabokov's "Lolita" carries readers through the intricacies of Nabokov's work and helps them achieve a better understanding of his rich artistic design. The book opens with a detailed chronology of Nabokov's life and literary career. Chapters include an analysis of the novel, a discussion of its precursors in Nabokov's work and in world literature, an essay on the character of Dolly Haze (Humbert's "Lolita"), and a commentary on the critical and cultural afterlife of the novel. The volume concludes with an annotated bibliography of selected critical reading. The guide should prove illuminating both for first-time readers of Lolita and for experienced re-readers of Nabokov's classic work.
List of contents
Abbreviations. Chronology of Nabokov¿s Life and Career. Chronology of Lolita. Preface. Chapter One. The Creation of Lolita. Notes. Chapter Two. The Precursors of Lolita. Notes. Chapter Three. Approaching Lolita. Notes. Chapter Four. Who Was Dolly Haze? Notes. Chapter Five. Humbert¿s Memoir, Nabokov¿s Novel: A Reader¿s Analysis. Foreword. Part One. Part Two. Notes. Chapter Six. Lolitäs Afterlife: Critical and Cultural Responses. Critical Reception. Cultural Responses. Notes. A Guide to Further Reading in English. Index.
About the author
Julian W. Connolly (Ph.D. Harvard University) is Professor of Slavic Languages and Literatures at the University of Virginia. He is the author of Nabokov's Early Fiction: Patterns of Self and Other (1992) and editor of Nabokov and His Fiction: New Perspectives (1999) and The Cambridge Companion to Nabokov (2005). He has published over sixty articles on Russian Literature.
Summary
One of the most controversial novels of the twentieth century, Vladimir Nabokov's "Lolita" is renowned for its innovative style and notorious for its subject matter and influence on popular culture. This book guides readers through the intricacies of Nabokov's work and helps them achieve an understanding of his rich artistic design.
