Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita: A Casebook (Casebooks in Criticism)

This casebook in criticism is absolutely brilliant. It is filled with a variety of critiques on the different aspects of Lolita as well as giving multiple insight into Nabokov's writing through brilliantly written essays by expert critics. It is an extremely helpful guide in unpacking the themes and literary nuances that are found in Lolita as the critics expertly manoeuvre the reader to gain his or her own perspective of the book through their masterful observations and explanations. A fantastic accompaniment to Nabokov's Lolita.

This is a well-rounded collection of essays which, although not always specific to Lolita (it is difficult to discuss a frequently self-referential writer without alluding to his own work), provides a fair sampling of interpretations and opinions on the text in question. I would not call it outstanding, but reasonably good.

This casebook looks at Nabokov's controversial novel from different angles based on diverse critical schools. It comments on the narrator,on the Americanisation of Humbert Humbert, on the rhetorical tools used to capture the reader and illuminates the way readers have reacted to this wonderful novel. It also takes into account the films on Lolita and discusses them in relation to the book. All in all it is an important aid in deciphering the rhetorics of Nabokov's fiction and glimpsing what it is that makes him such an important author.