Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (Penguin Modern Classics, Paperback)

Vladimir Nabokov's most famous and most controversial novel is narrated by Humbert Humbert, a cultivated poet whose obsession with twelve-year-old Dolores Haze, whom he calls Lolita, drives him to try to possess her, first in life and then on the page. First published in 1955, it pairs dark humour with dense, ornate prose, and its charming, unreliable narrator forces readers to see through his self-justification.

• Literary landmark: one of the most discussed novels of the twentieth century
• Style: playful, intricate language from a master of English prose
• On screen: adapted for film by Stanley Kubrick in 1962 and Adrian Lyne in 1997
• Edition: part of the Penguin Modern Classics list

Details

• Author: Vladimir Nabokov
• Series: Penguin Modern Classics
• Format: Paperback, 336 pages
• Size: about 12.9 x 19.8 cm
• Language: English
• Note: adult literary fiction with disturbing themes
• ISBN: 9780141182537