finished this morning, took me longer than usual but I've been dragged on a few piss ups and with this bloody job interview and what not I don't think my head has been in the right sort of place for reading

How can such a colourful book be so dark?

Basic premise, Humbert Humbert falls in lust with a 12 year old girl, he kidnaps her and subjects her to 2 or 3 years of rape, as I say it is an extremely dark subject matter, the beauty of this book (as I said at the start of this post) is how colourful the writing is, not only colourful but clever as well.

The fact that the subject matter is one of the worst possible crimes possible never once did the book feel too overly serious, never once was I terrified for Lolita's safety or well being, never once did I feel an overwhelming level of hatred for Humbert Humbert.

Thats because the whole book is told from HH's point of view, Lolita doesn't get the opportunity to express how she is feeling because the whole book is seen through HH's eyes, oh don't get me wrong there are plenty of clues that Lolita is not happy and there are plenty of times when she says something that drags you back to the subject matter and makes you go 'wow' Humbert Humbert is so blase in his own mind that his actions are almost second nature to him.

Right up until the very end of the book you get an insight into this mans twisted perception of right and wrong.

A brilliant read, I'm going to let this one marinate for a few months and then re-read it because I am sure that there is a hell of a lot more to be taken from this book after the second or third (or maybe fourth) read.