Lolita abounds with games. How does the novel itself resemble a vast and intricate game? Is Nabokov playing with his readers or against them? Do its game-like qualities detract from its emotional seriousness or actually heighten it?

Book Clubs Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov Discussion
1

As previously mentioned, Lolita abounds with games: the games Humbert plays with his psychiatrists, his games of chess with Gaston Godin, the transcontinental games of tag and hide-and-go-seek that Quilty plays with Humbert, and the slapstick game of Quilty’s murder. There is Humbert’s poignant outburst, “I have only words to play with!” [p. 32]. In what way does this novel itself resemble a vast and intricate game, a game played with words? Is Nabokov playing with his readers or against them? How does such an interpretation alter your experience of Lolita? Do its game-like qualities detract from its emotional seriousness or actually heighten it?

2

I had a hard time reading this book. To me, it all seemed like a game and not a story that I could follow and learn more about the characters. The words didn’t flow and enhance the story. They seemed to halt the story and make me wonder why phrases were added that added nothing to the story. I had never read Lolita was and expected it to be more than I found it to be. When I began to read it, I realized that had I not HAD to read it for BookBrowse that I wouldn’t have read it.

3

Chess, hopscotching around the country, and playing with words are games that like a magician play with misdirection. The game is the greater one that Nabokov played with his readers, a game of pretending not to admire the actions of the reprehensible character at the heart of the story. The game of making a 12 or 13 year old girl into a seductress. The game of turning a cold-blooded, indefensible murder into a comedy farce.

4

I agree with Robin. I also found the games a way of bringing the reader into the story. As a person, I’m very uncomfortable with the proximity to his crimes even while appreciating the art.

5

Lolita resembles a complex game through words, structure, and mentality. Nabokov plays with and against his readers, delighting them while testing their moral alertness. Far from trivializing the novel’s seriousness, this game intensifies it. The playful surface makes the underlying tragedy more shocking, and the reader’s active role in “solving” the novel makes the emotional reckoning personal.