Marta Portal Portal itibaren Abu Teban, Iraq
Maddeningly eccessive! But it works! Seemingly every piece of exposition is on display here, but it flows with the story. And there's no point in getting into Rand's philosophy in this small space. Should I even say that this book kicked my ass?
Anyone can tell you that Lolita is a staggering example of virtuosity with the English language (and honestly I'd five-star it just for that alone) but I've read plenty of literary masterworks that I haven't capital L Loved like I love Lolita. Let's put aside the gorgeous, dazzling, mind-bending writing chops of Vladimir Nabakov for a moment and I'll tell you what I really love about Lolita. I love Lolita for the same reason I love A Confederacy of Dunces. Strip away the sensational subject matter of Lolita and the similarities become clear: they're both hilarious accounts of the complaints, observations, and bizarre habits of spectacular misanthropes. Sure, Humbert Humbert is a thousand times grosser than Ignatius J. Reilly (olfactory factors notwithstanding), but both Humbert and Reilly appealed to me through their grandiloquent bitching. By the way, I listened to the audio version narrated by Jeremy Irons and it is sublime, his voice has the perfect balance of the sinister and the sophisticated.