Katya

For the third time (actually, the first time in two years) I am reading this great novel, moreso because I adore the story of Levin and Kitty. Not usually am I irked by a novel's protagonist, but this is the case with me. I find Anna fickle and exasperating, however outwardly dazzling. And Vronsky seems to represent all those shallow high school boys my friends once swooned over. Nevertheless, I am having a good time reading this book.

I finished this novel a week ago, and I'd have to say it is one of the top items on my list of beloved works. The prose is so beautiful that you almost have sympathy for Humbert, and the fact that Quilty is the worst of the two pedophiles led me down the same path, though I was never exactly sorry for the novel's main character. To be honest, Lolita's character annoyed me, especially her bedazzlement with pop culture and her repeated put-downs of "you old dope." But I suppose that's what one should expect of a twelve year old. A second argument can be made though. Instead of an innocent child deflowered by a corrupt man, one can say an innocent (however troubled) man is deflowered by a corrupt child.