LolitaLolita
Score Classic
What it's about
Humbert Humbert, a European scholar living in New England, becomes obsessed with his landlady's twelve-year-old daughter, Dolores Haze. He marries her mother to stay near her, and after the mother's sudden death he takes Dolores on a long road trip across America, abusing her and calling it love. He tells the story himself, from prison, with dazzling wit and self-justification.
Why it's worth reading
It's one of the best-selling books ever, on TIME's list of the best novels and one of the most celebrated English-language novels of the century. Nabokov's prose is brilliant, and the book forces the reader to see past a charming narrator to the child he destroyed.
You'll love it if you liked
Madame Bovary
The Great Gatsby
A Clockwork OrangeGood to know
It's narrated by a child abuser and depicts the abuse. Humbert is unreliable, and the novel is a portrait of a predator, not a love story. Some readers can't read it at all.
By the numbers
- Readers21 out of 100 · counts 42%
- Critics96 out of 100 · counts 34% (its stronger lane)
- Bestseller89 out of 100 · counts 14%
- Buzz0 out of 100 · counts 10%
Critics and Bestseller are two ways to earn a place: a book's stronger one counts more. Buzz rewards recent bestseller weeks and prizes, so older books start at zero. The parts combine into the Must-Read Score, shown on a scale where the best book we found scores 99 and the last book to make the ranking scores 50.
Where it ranks
Why it made the list
Reads as
Moving, Thought-provoking
More by Vladimir Nabokov
If you like this, read next
The Brothers Karamazov
The Thorn Birds
The Age of Innocence
Middlemarch
Giovanni's Room
EmmaExplore the best-of lists
All 36 best-of lists →
Quick answers
Is Lolita worth reading?
Yes. It's one of the best-selling books ever, on TIME's list of the best novels and one of the most celebrated English-language novels of the century. It ranks #584 of the 2,816 books in our ranking, with a Must-Read Score of 77.3 (the best book we found scores 99).
What is Lolita about?
Humbert Humbert, a European scholar living in New England, becomes obsessed with his landlady's twelve-year-old daughter, Dolores Haze. He marries her mother to stay near her, and after the mother's sudden death he takes Dolores on a long road trip across America, abusing her and calling it love. He tells the story himself, from prison, with dazzling wit and self-justification.
How long does it take to read Lolita?
About 8 hours (335 pages), or about 2 weeks at 30 minutes a day.
What should I read after Lolita?
If you liked it, try Madame Bovary by Gustave Flaubert, The Great Gatsby by F. Scott Fitzgerald or A Clockwork Orange by Anthony Burgess.