Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov
or, The Confession of a White Widowed Male
The novel tells the story of Humbert Humbert, a man with a disturbing obsession for young girls, or "nymphets" as he calls them. His obsession leads him to engage in a manipulative and destructive relationship with his 12-year-old stepdaughter, Lolita. The narrative is a controversial exploration of manipulation, obsession, and unreliable narration, as Humbert attempts to justify his actions and feelings throughout the story.
The 14th greatest book of all time
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- Published
- 1955
- Nationality
- American
- Length
- Medium
- Pages
- 300-400
- Original Language
- English
- Avg User Rating
-
(4.1)
- Alternate Titles
-
- The Annotated Lolita
- Лолита
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This book is on the following 97 lists:
- 1st on As if You Don't Have Enough to Read, Fiction Edition (New York Times)
- 1st on D. G. Myers’ 50 Greatest English Language Novels (D. G. Myers)
- 1st on In Which These Are the 100 Greatest Novels (ThisRecording.com)
- 1st on The Ideal Library (Book)
- 2nd on Distinguished Fiction, 1945-1965. (New York Herald Tribune)
- 2nd on The Best Of The Century (TIME)
- 3rd on 4chan’s Literature Board’s Aggregate Top 100 Books for the Decade 2014 - 2024 (Reddit)
- 3rd on Quintessential American Fiction, According to the Rest of the World (Literary Hub)
- 4th on The Modern Library | 100 Best Novels (Modern Library)
- 5th on The Top 10: The Greatest Books of All Time (The Top 10 (Book))
- 6th on For The Love of Books (For The Love of Books)
- 6th on The 50 best books of the past 100 years (The Times)
- 7th on Harvard Book Store Staff's Favorite 100 Books (Harvard Book Store)
- 8th on The Celebrity Reading List (Gardiner Public Library)
- 9th on 20th Century's Greatest Hits: 100 English-Language Books of Fiction (Larry McCaffery)
- 11th on Our Users' Top 100 Favorite Books of All Time (The Greatest Books Users)
- 11th on Radcliffe's 100 Best Novels (Radcliffe Publishing Course)
- 12th on The 100 Best Books from 1900 to the Present (Yedioth Ahronoth)
- 14th on The 100 Most Important Translations (Notos Magazine (Turkey))
- 17th on Books Of The Century (Library Journal)
- 17th on TrueLit's Top 100 Favorite Books (2023) (/r/TrueLit)
- 19th on Entertainment Weekly's Top 100 Novels (Entertainment Weekly)
- 21st on The 100 Best Novels of the 20th Century (Folha de São Paulo)
- 23rd on R/ClassicLiterature's Top 100 Favorite Books (R/ClassicLiterature)
- 24th on 50 Books to Read Before You Die (Complex)
- 25th on El Pais Favorite Books of 100 Spanish Authors (El Pais)
- 25th on The 100 Best Novels Of All Time In English (The Guardian)
- 27th on Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century (Le Monde)
- 30th on 50 Classics You Must Read Before You Die (Gyldendal (Denmark Publisher))
- 31st on Koen Book Distributors Top 100 Books of the Past Century (themodernnovel.com)
- 31st on Waterstone's Books of the Century (LibraryThing)
- 32nd on 100 Best Books (Montana State University)
- 32nd on The 500 best books of all time from Culture Café users (Culture Café)
- 34th on The Modern Library's 100 Best Novels: The Readers' List (The Modern Library)
- 40th on The Greatest Books of All Time (Reader's Digest)
- 45th on The new modern classics — the nation’s favourite 20th century novels (The Times)
- 46th on Readers’ Top 100 Novels Of All Time (Guardian)
- 47th on The Novel 100: A Ranking of the Greatest Novels of All Time (The Novel 100)
- 49th on The 101 Favorite Novels of 'Le Monde' Readers (Le Monde)
- 50th on 100 Essential Books (Bravo! Magazine)
- 52nd on 100 Must-Read Classics, as Chosen by our Readers (Penguin (UK))
- 54th on The Telegraph’s 100 Novels Everyone Should Read (Telegraph)
- 65th on Edmonton's Top 100 (Edmonton Journal)
- 75th on 'The perfect library': the 196 books selected by 133 personalities (XLSemanal and Zenda)
- 78th on The Main Works of Russian literature (Polka Academy)
- 100th on Big Read (Bulgarian) (Bulgaria)
- 178th on The Big Read (BBC)
- 256th on The Complete 500: OCLC (OCLC)
- 1,000 Books to Read Before You Die: A Life-Changing List (1,000 Books to Read Before You Die(Book))
- 1000 Novels Everyone Must Read (The Guardian)
- 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (The Book)
- 100 Best 20th-Century American Books (Hungry Mind Review)
- 100 Best Novels Written in English (The Guardian)
- 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime (Amazon.com (USA))
- 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime (Amazon.com (UK))
- 100 Most Influential Books of the Century (Boston Public Library)
- 125 Books We Love for Adults (NY Public Library)
- 200 Books That Shaped 200 Years of Literature (The Center for Fiction)
- 25 acclaimed international writers choose 25 of the best books from the last 25 years (Wasafiri Magazine)
- 25 Books to Read Before You Die (Powell's Books)
- 501 Must-Read Books (LibraryThing)
- 50 Books to (Re-)Read at 50 (nextavenue)
- 50 Greatest Books of All Time (Globe and Mail)
- 50 Memorable Books from 50 Years of Books to Remember (The New York Public Library)
- A Century of Reading (Lithub)
- A Century of World Literature 1925 - 2025 (Der Spiegel)
- An Expert's 200-Book List (The Detroit Free Press)
- Best Books Ever (Book Depository)
- Best Books (Fiction, Prose) : Experts Choose Their Favourites (The Book "Best Books")
- Best Foreign Work of Fiction Chosen by Francophone Writers (French literary magazine Transfuge)
- Books that Shaped the Century (LOGOS 20th Century Books Project)
- Daily Telegraph's 100 Books of the Century, 1900-1999 (Daily Telegraph)
- David Bowie's Top 100 Favorite Books (David Bowie)
- Donna Tartt's Book Choices from "The Writer's Library" (The Writer's Library: The Authors You Love on the Books That Changed Their Lives (Book))
- Everything You Should Read without Being a Library Rat (Book by Luiz Carlos Lisboa)
- From Zero to Well-Read in 100 Books (Jeff O'Neal at Bookriot.com)
- Harenberg Buch der 1000 Bücher (Harenberg Buch der 1000 Bücher)
- Harold Bloom's The Western Canon (The Western Canon (Book) by Harold Bloom)
- How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Reading List (Thomas C. Foster)
- One Hundred Best American Novels, 1770 to 1985 (The American Scholar)
- "Our Readable Century", The Best Books of the 20th Century -- Honorable Mention ( January Magazine)
- The 100 Greatest American Novels, 1893 – 1993 (Jeff O'Neal at Bookriot.com)
- The 100 Greatest Novels (Nezavisimaya Gazeta (Russian Newspaper))
- The 100 Greatest Novels of All Time: The List (The Observer)
- The 75 Best Books of the Past 75 Years (Parade Magazine)
- The 80 Books Every Man Should Read (Esquire)
- The Best Classics (The Times)
- The Booklist Century: 100 Books, 100 Years (BookList)
- The Graphic Canon (Book)
- The Great American Novels (The Atlantic)
- The Greatest 20th Century Novels (Waterstone)
- The Modern Library: The Two Hundred Best Novels in English Since 1950 (The Modern Library (Book))
- The New Lifetime Reading Plan (The New Lifetime Reading Plan)
- The New York Public Library's Books of the Century (New York Public Library)
- TIME Magazine All Time 100 Novels (TIME Magazine)
- Top 100 Books (Lincoln Journal Star)
- Top 100 Works in World Literature (Norwegian Book Clubs, with the Norwegian Nobel Institute)