Lo's Diary [Paperback]

She tells Mr. Ray that some of the details of Lolita were just over-romanticized lies thought up by Humbert, but then she sort of recants and decides that maybe Humbert was so deluded he really thought those things happened. So, we learn the "true" story of what happened starting with Lolita's diary a few months before Humbert Humbert entered the picture.

I really, really disliked Humbert Humbert while reading Lolita, and I don't think I was supposed to like him. This book was quite a jewel since Lolita's assessment of Humbert coincides with they way I felt he really was in Lolita, a bumbling fool.

This wasn't written in the same style as Nabokov's Lolita. This is quite a bit more down-to-earth. You don't have to go through pages and pages of description about one minute detail. Lo just tells it like it is. Sometimes, Lolita seems a little too mature for her age, and sometimes she seems a little childish, just as she's presented in Lolita, though. I thought it was an amusing read.

The "real" names and so forth- Goatscreek, Dolores Maze, Gerry Sue Filthy- are hokey and rather unbelievable. The protagonist's diary, allegedly begun when she was about ten or eleven, is so far beyond precocious that it loses all its credibility.

Pera has decided, perhaps wisely, to keep it so deeply in Lo's focus that the entire affair with Humbert seems inconsequential; a nothing. I found myself squirming and skipping through the many esoteric bits of American pre-teen lore, instead looking for some scraps of story.

Oh, right- it has no ending. There is no conclusion, no closure. Even in a diary format, some kind of ending could have been scrounged up.

Alone, "Lo's Diary" might have been a very interesting and peculiar text. However, the only purpose it currently serves is to pervert the excellent original writings.

This books foreward tells the story of how the author of the book supposedly got the diary of Dolores Maze a.k.a Lolita Haze. The book itself is written as if narrated, not so much is tranditional diary form. I felt the language was a little too mature for Lolita who grows from 12-15 while "writing" this diary. Other than that it tells the story of her life with her mother "the hen" before and after Humbert. It discusses why she got involved with him, what kind of a man she REALLY felt he was, and also sheds a lot of light on what kind of a girl SHE really was!
I enjoyed this book a lot. It was like a roller coaster ride with a manic-depressive. It was not as well written as "Lolita" of course, however, I did find myself dying to know what she would do or say next. Some parts I had trouble handling. If you are an animal lover watch out for the hamster scene, and if you don't like foul language this book isn't for you. I found myself squirming a little when I read her descriptions of sexual acts. Nabokov was delicate with these descriptions, where Lolita's rough American rebel side shows through.
To wrap this up I'm just going to say I liked this book. My mom would kill me if she knew I read it but I liked it a lot. I felt like I was actually there where as with Humberts point of view I felt more like he was telling me about it. I enjoyed this more relaxed style of writing as well,it made it a fast and enjoyable read and you didn't find yourslef looking for Nabokovs clever word games. Try it out.