Humbert and Memory

      I've consistently been suspicious of H.H.'s memory since first beginning Lolita, and now that the novel has progressed and is reaching the climax of the story, my suspicions have gotten worse. The first thing that makes me suspicious is Humbert's use of dialogue between him and his darling Lo. The conversations are so vivid, and so detailed, with constant detail about her gestures and facial expressions. However, the reader must continuously remember that this is a framed novel and that Humbert is supposed to be recounting this story from jail. He claims to have a photogenic memory, which is fine, but this outlandish statement is what makes me, the reader, believe that Humbert is not reliable.
     The way Lolita speaks to Humbert, or at least the way Humbert remembers it, is very odd and changes often. One moment, she speaks to him the way a twelve year old would speak to someone and the next, she is speaking like a 20th century novelist. Plus, there are so many similarities with the way she speaks and the way Humbert writes. For example, there is one moment on page 113 where Lo comments on the encounter with the traffic officer. She says, "'Bad, bad girl," said Lo comfortably. 'Juvenile delickwent, but frank and fetching. That light was red. I've never seen such driving.'" Lo says "delickwent" instead of delinquent which is to suggest she cannot pronounce the word, a very childlike and believable suggestion. However, she then goes on to say "frank" and "fetching" and says "I've never seen such driving" which completely gives her a sense of maturity that pronouncing "delickwent" does not suggest. Therefore, this makes me wonder how reliable Humbert's version of the story really can be. Is he just forgetting certain conversations and adding in fillers because he wants the jury to forgive him of his sins? Or, is this story completely false? It seems as if Humbert is leaving it up to the reader to decide.