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 6th greatest book of all time
- Published
- 1955
- Nationality
- American
- Type
- Fiction
- Pages
- 300-400
- Words
- 112,473
- Original Language
- English
- Alternate Titles
- None
If you're interested in seeing the ranking details on this book go here
This book is on the following 74 lists:
- 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)
- 1st on As if You Don't Have Enough to Read, Fiction Edition (New York Times)
- 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)
- 8th on Our Users' Favorite Books of All Time (The Greatest Books Users)
- 8th on Our Users' Top 100 Favorite Books of All Time (The Greatest Books Users)
- 9th on El Pais Favorite Books of 100 Spanish Authors (El Pais)
- 9th on 20th Century's Greatest Hits: 100 English-Language Books of Fiction (Larry McCaffery)
- 11th on Radcliffe's 100 Best Novels (Radcliffe Publishing Course)
- 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)
- 24th on 50 Books to Read Before You Die (Complex)
- 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 Waterstone's Books of the Century (LibraryThing)
- 31st on Koen Book Distributors Top 100 Books of the Past Century (themodernnovel.com)
- 32nd on 100 Best Books (Montana State University)
- 32nd on The 500 best books of all time from Culture Café users (Culture Café)
- 40th on The Greatest Books of All Time (Reader's Digest)
- 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)
- 69th on The 100 Greatest Novels of All Time: The List (The Observer)
- 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)
- 100 Best Novels Written in English (The Guardian)
- 50 Memorable Books from 50 Years of Books to Remember (The New York Public Library)
- 25 acclaimed international writers choose 25 of the best books from the last 25 years (Wasafiri Magazine)
- The 75 Best Books of the Past 75 Years (Parade Magazine)
- Top 100 Works in World Literature (Norwegian Book Clubs, with the Norwegian Nobel Institute)
- 50 Greatest Books of All Time (Globe and Mail)
- The 80 Books Every Man Should Read (Esquire)
- 100 Most Influential Books of the Century (Boston Public Library)
- 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime (Amazon.com (USA))
- The 100 Greatest American Novels, 1893 – 1993 (Jeff O'Neal at Bookriot.com)
- 50 Books to (Re-)Read at 50 (nextavenue)
- The New Lifetime Reading Plan (The New Lifetime Reading Plan)
- From Zero to Well-Read in 100 Books (Jeff O'Neal at Bookriot.com)
- Best Books Ever (bookdepository.com)
- The Graphic Canon (Book)
- How to Read Literature Like a Professor: A Reading List (Thomas C. Foster)
- 100 Books to Read in a Lifetime (Amazon.com (UK))
- The Best Classics (The Times)
- TIME Magazine All Time 100 Novels (TIME Magazine)
- 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (The Book)
- The New York Public Library's Books of the Century (New York Public Library)
- A Century of Reading (Lithub)
- Harold Bloom's The Western Canon (The Western Canon (Book) by Harold Bloom)
- Best Books (Fiction, Prose) : Experts Choose Their Favourites (The Book "Best Books")
- The Booklist Century: 100 Books, 100 Years (BookList)
- The Great American Novels (The Atlantic)
- Best Foreign Work of Fiction Chosen by Francophone Writers (French literary magazine Transfuge)
- Daily Telegraph's 100 Books of the Century, 1900-1999 (Daily Telegraph)
- The Modern Library: The Two Hundred Best Novels in English Since 1950 (The Modern Library (Book))
- 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)
- Books that Shaped the Century (LOGOS 20th Century Books Project)
- 200 Books That Shaped 200 Years of Literature (The Center for Fiction)
- One Hundred Best American Novels, 1770 to 1985 (The American Scholar)
- The Greatest 20th Century Novels (Waterstone)
- David Bowie's Top 100 Favorite Books (David Bowie)