Nabokov’s lolita theme is, you know, somewhat controversial and was banned in numerous countries in the years after it was published, including the UK.
This is because it follows the story of a man’s obsession with a young girl and one of the main themes of lolita is pedophilia.
You are reading: Books similar to lolita
Of course, that topic hasn’t become any less disturbing in modern society, but freedom of expression has developed considerably. lolita is now considered one of the best books of the 20th century and appears on many book lists as one of the best classics to read.
I found reading lolita to be a thoroughly uncomfortable experience, although I can definitely appreciate its literary merits. Nabokov’s unreliable narrator has a way with words and the Lolita prose is beautiful and contrasts sharply with the content he describes.
While lolita is certainly a very unique novel, I found myself thinking of other books like lolita as I read it. so i have compiled a list of other controversial novels that have similar themes to nabokov’s lolita.
books similar to lolita
vladimir nabokov’s charmer
The Charmer is a novel by Vladimir Nabokov that was translated and published posthumously by his son. it was written in 1939, long before lolita was published and nabokov himself called it his “pre-lolita”.
The story is very similar to the later classic: an older man lusts after a girl he meets in the park. he marries her mother to gain access to her, but her mother soon passes away due to illness. he takes the young woman, now in her care, on a road trip where she makes the move for her.
in the charmer we see another man destroy himself after we have given him an insight into his mind. he at the same time he feels disgusted with himself and justifies his own feelings from him.
This short, bittersweet novel is perfect for people who loved lolita.
How can I come to terms with myself?
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ada by vladimir nabokov
ada, or burning: a family chronicle was published almost 15 years after lolita and is another work by vladimir nabokov. In this book, there is an illicit love relationship between two brothers, although this fact is unknown to them.
They think they are cousins, or rather that their fathers are cousins and their mothers are sisters. They meet when they are eleven and fourteen and start an affair.
Although the unnatural love story forms the basis of the plot, this novel is about time, memory and love. As such, it has been compared to works by both Tolstoy and Proust.
What sets Ada apart from the other titles on this list is that it takes place in an alternate reality on Anti-Terra. In this version of Earth, there are a large number of Russians residing in North America.
It’s hard to find anyone else who writes like Nabokov, so if you’re looking for more of his beautiful prose, then the rest of his work is the best place to start. this book is very clever, but that means reading it can be pretty hard work.
buy ada by vladimir nabokov: amazon | book deposit | water stones | cesspools
notes on a zoe heller scandal
Notes on a Scandal is a lolita-style book that involves a gender swap as art teacher sheba begins an affair with one of her 15-year-old students. We’re told early on that Sheba has been accused of sexually assaulting a minor, so it’s no surprise how this story ends.
what’s interesting is heller’s thought provoking comment on human nature. Exceptionally, the notes on a scandal are narrated by a third party in the matter, Sheba’s best friend, Barbara.
writes her own account of sheba’s fall and defends her friend by saying that her goal is to “shed light on the complex nature of her personality”.
In doing so, he also reveals the complex nature of his own personality. While at first you might think that Sheba is the monster in this story, you start to wonder if Barbara could be just as despicable.
This is a great example of a story with an unreliable narrator that will keep you turning page after page. It’s a contemporary lolita and a must read if you liked Nabakov’s classic.
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putney by sofka zinovieff
putney is set in london in the 1970s, when 9-year-old daphne meets 28-year-old composer ralph boyd. he becomes obsessed with her the moment he looks at her, but it’s not until she’s 13 that he touches her for the first time and the affair escalates.
See Also: 3.5 Disinfecting Books and Other Collections — NEDCC
The novel alternates between past and present, detailing Ralph and Daphne’s relationship in the 1970s, mirrored by Daphne forty years later in the present.
putney forces you to think about consent, the abuse of power and how to accept what has been done to you. the keeper aptly calls it lolita for the #metoo era.
We are offered three perspectives, that of the victim, that of the abuser and that of the witness. Unlike Humbert Humbert, Ralph Boyd does not consider himself contemptible and continually justifies his actions to himself. there’s no gratuitous sex, but the inner workings of this monster’s brain are enough to give you goosebumps.
Our story has nothing to do with abuse. linking them is like throwing garbage on the flowers, like denying the power of love.
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tampa by alissa nutting
tampa by alissa nutting is another gender-swapped lolita, released in 2013. a teacher becomes obsessed with her student and they start an affair. At first, they both seem to be getting what they want, but things quickly go awry and there are dire consequences for both.
There is none of the beauty of Nabokov’s language here, but there is something darkly compelling in Celeste’s raw narrative. we’re investigating the mind of a monster and she’s unabashedly candid about her fantasies.
Tampa doesn’t shy away from the slightly disgusting sexual situations and wicked thoughts of murder that cross Celeste’s mind as she desperately tries to satisfy (and hide) her fetish for pre-teen teens. Tampa grossed me out but wowed me nonetheless.
read my full review of tampa by alissa nutting here.
shopping tampa by alissa nutting: amazon | book deposit | water stones | cesspools
the lover of marguerite duras
Marguerite Duras is one of the most prolific French writers of the 20th century. the lover, l’amant in French, is her best known work and she has been described as the anti-lolita.
It is told from the perspective of an anonymous 15-year-old girl who becomes involved with a much older Chinese businessman.
In Lolita, we only see Humbert’s romantic view of the situation through poetic prose, but in The Lover it’s the opposite. we only see the perspective of the young woman and there is no romance about it.
If you’re looking to immerse yourself in modern French literature, Duras is one of my favorite French authors of all time and this is a great place to start.
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tiger, rough margaux tiger
tigre, tiger de margaux fragoso goes a little deeper than the other titles on this list because it is, in fact, a memoir, an autobiography.
margaux fragoso meets peter curran when she is 7 years old and he is 51 years old. Her mother is overwhelmed by the care of her little daughter and she appreciates this man’s attention to her little family.
tiger, tiger gives us an insight into the mind of a victim through years of abuse. It tells of her childhood when Peter made his way into her life and the devastating impact her relationship with him had on her development.
sheds light on how abusive situations often come up in a real tone that will stay with you long after you’ve put this book down.
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the end of alice for m houses
Alice’s Ending is definitely the story with the most interesting premise on this list of lolita-like books.
tells the story of an incarcerated pedophile and his correspondence with a 19-year-old girl who experiences similar desires for a young boy. They’re definitely not the kind of pen pals your mom encouraged you to write to.
The story is told from the point of view of chappy, the imprisoned pedophile, and how he gives his new friend advice on how to seduce children. in return, she details his best efforts.
Along with this story are bits of chappy’s past about his abusive mother and alice, the girl who put him in prison. We’re just in the mind of a pedophile at the end of Alice, so it’s a thoroughly unpleasant but gripping read.
See Also: The definitive guide to David Baldacci&x27s books in order – Pan Macmillan
this is definitely not for those who are sensitive as it details child sexual abuse and prison rape.
although alice’s ending was published relatively recently in 2007, it caused such a stir that, like lolita, attempts were made to ban it in the uk.
buy the end of alice for m homes: amazon | book deposit | water stones | cesspools
diary of the pineapple pear
In 1995, Italian author Pia Pera published a response to Nabakov’s Lolita in the form of a diary of lo. It’s a lolita retelling from Dolores Haze’s point of view and paints a more dire picture of the protagonists than the original tale.
lolita is a controlling sadist who enjoys killing small animals and humbert humbert is an unattractive and repulsive man.
This book is great for people who liked lolita but don’t take this narrative too seriously. The writing and language are far removed from the original and the story is a bit ridiculous in places, but it’s interesting to read an interpretation of what the story might have been like if Lolita had requested Humbert’s advances.
Interestingly, after a pre-publication copyright infringement lawsuit, Nabokov ended up writing the book’s preface and receives 50% of all royalties.
buy the pineapple pear diary: amazon | water stones | cesspools
roger fishbite by emily prager
lo’s diary was followed by another account four years later, roger fishbite. The general consensus is that the protagonist “Lucky Lady Linderhoff” is much closer than most readers imagined her to being Lolita than Pia Pera, who took many liberties with the original tale.
is a modern take on lolita that takes place in the 90’s and is meant to be a parody of the nabokov story. is told from the perspective of a lucky 13-year-old and addresses how children are becoming increasingly eroticized in Western society.
buy if you’re interested in reading the thoughts of a modern lolita, but be aware that it’s a bit like young adult fiction. if you’re looking for a despicable story with charming writing, select one of the first five options on this list.
shop roger fishbite from emily prager: amazon | water stones | cesspools
bonnie nadzam lamb
david lamb is having a mid-life crisis. his marriage has collapsed and his father has passed away. he then meets 11 year old tommie and she becomes his new project. he is convinced that he can help this young woman avoid ending up like him and leading a life of apathy.
Lamb gains Tommie’s trust and grooms her before kidnapping her. Convincing himself that he’s doing what’s best for Tommie, he kidnaps her from a remote cabin and takes her on a road trip from Chicago to the Rocky Mountains.
lamb is similar to lolita in that beautiful language is used to tell a despicable story. nadzam is far from nabokov but the prose and descriptions are very well written.
buy lamb by bonnie nadzam: amazon | book deposit | water stones | cesspools
belinda by anne rampaling (anne rice)
anne rice is best known for her vampire books that begin with an interview with the vampire, but did you know she also wrote under the pseudonym anne ramping? Using this name, she wrote Belinda, a story about a 16-year-old girl and the object of an older man’s latest fantasy.
Belinda is also told from the older man’s perspective, but this time our young lady is up for it, even inviting. she goes to great lengths to try to stay with jeremy walker while lolita struggles to escape humbert humbert.
not my favorite book on this list, but the similarities to lolita are obvious and it’s a short read for fans of anne rice.
buy belinda de anne rampaling: amazon | water stones | cesspools
end of the trial by james barlow
Term of Trial is an oft-forgotten James Barlow classic set in an unnamed industrial town in the 1950s. The main character, Graham Weir, is a schoolteacher and alcoholic who despises himself and He has an unsatisfying family life. he recognizes himself in one of his students and offers to give him some extra teaching.
However, she soon falls in love with him and comes on to him. he rebuffs her advances, but then finds himself on trial for indecent sexual assault. His friends and family disassociate themselves from him and Barlow captures the fallacies of human nature.
buy trial term by james barlow: amazon
These thirteen books share similar themes to Nabokov’s lolita and were somewhat controversial. if you loved lolita, you should start with the ones in the first half of this list, which are my top recommendations.
pin now, come back to read later!
if you liked this post, check out these book reviews: tampa, by alissa nutting, book review, luckiest girl in the world book review, before i go to sleep book review ,
See Also: 12 Dark Romance Books That Take Love to the Extreme – TCK Publishing