Literary Reviews and Lolita

In both the lit review "Lolita and The Dangers of Fiction" and "In Search of Aesthetic Bliss", both authors explore the idea of the imaginary world of Humbert Humbert. Roth, the author of "In Search of Aesthetic Bliss", discusses Nabokov's view of time, or lack there of. He says, in his autobiography Speak, Memory, "I don't believe in time." Though it can be hard at times to remember that Nabokov is, in fact, the creator of Humbert Humbert and that he is not as real as he can sometimes seem to be, it helps to understand that Nabokov has a hazy idea of time–which can explain H.H.'s distorted narrative and view of his experiences with Lolita.

Roth explains that, "In Lolita, Humbert attempts to create and superimpose upon 'reality'
a world of his own making to his own taste." So, therefore, Roth is attempting to explain that Humbert makes up his own reality in order to make himself seem like a more like-able creature rather than the emotionally disturbed, sardonic pedophile he really is. With Nabokov as the ghost writer behind Humbert Humbert, and H.H.'s superimposed reality, the entire story becomes fragments of false starts and hazy beginnings. Winston, the author of "Lolita and The Dangers of Fiction", says: "We are made into Humbert's judge and jury and are accordingly
addressed as 'your honor' and as 'ladies and gentlemen of the jury,' for
Humbert presents his legal and moral case to us.8 Beyond that, we are also
'the astute reader' (p. 274) who is called upon to appreciate Humbert's
artistry". So, Humbert imposes himself upon his readers in order to attempt to make them see him in the way he sees himself. His reality is completely distorted and he wants ours to be, too.

Another example of this distorted, superimposed reality, Roth touches on H.H.'s unwillingness to see that the resemblance between Quilty and him are uncanny, at least to Lolita. There is a literal arrow pointing to a picture of Quilty in Lolit's bedroom with scrawling cursive that reads "H.H." Whether this entire scene is even true in the first place is up for arguement, however the fact that H.H. deems himself more attractive than Quilty and the resemblance slight is an overt, extreme example of how madly H.H.'s view of reality is off. What else about this superimposed reality can be found in the text? This is something I wish to explore in further posts.