LOLITA: The Worst Masterpiece

www.horses.land
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Sources:
Lolita, Vladimir Nabokov
On a Book Entitled "Lolita", Vladimir Nabokov
How Unreliable Is Humbert in "Lolita"?, Anthony R. Moore
A Reader’s Guide to Nabokov’s “Lolita”, Julian W. Connolly
Unreliable Narration in Vladimir Nabokov’s Lolita, John Wasmuth
Music:
Calm Before - HATAMITSUNAMI
Eyes Watching - Eden Avery
Grasping - Hanna Lindgren
Haumea - Lennon Hutton
I Am Watching You - Ruiqi Zhao
Mending - Hanna Lindgren
Restore - Megan Wofford
Slippery Leaves - Franz Gordon
Someone There - Victor Lundberg
Starfall - Roots and Recognition
Tendencies - Hanna Lindgren
The Clearing - Golden Anchor
Un Dia En Granada - Vendla
What We Used to Know - Farrell Wooten

[@HorsesOnYT]

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[@thepurpleman119]

FIRST

[@thecrakp0t]

I wish I could spare even a few dollars. I love your channel!

[@moonshinefae]

Would you consider making a $1 tier? I would happily sub for a monthly dollar, even if I got nothing extra in return.

[@ExiledGypsy]

Ballocks. Every piece of art has been reinterpreted according to social norms of the time of the interpreter. This is what you are doing and nothing else. You need to learn that no one can have monopoly on truth . All interpretation are perspectives and thereby space and time dependent. You are elaborating on your perspective and while all perspectives can be valid none of them are "the truth", not even that of the artist himself unless it is nothing but propaganda in which case it is bound to be a lie. The sincerity of art is in what it reflects from the subconscious. This is why an authentic Jackson Pollock cannot be imitated by just anyone. But you are right that Nabokov is about language. This is why the adaptation can never live up to the text. Some people think an adaptation needs to remain faithful to the text but then it would be a translation and it is bound to have personal biases intruding on it. I think while that would be one perspective my preference is for authenticity. If an artist is going to have biases then it is more honest to use the text more as inspiration and represents what the text resonates in the adaptation. For example, I don't know if you have read Naked Lunch and seen David Cronenberg's film. The book is written is a nonlinear format and it more like a collection of anecdotes. The film does present some of the anecdotes but also put them in the context of William Barough's life story. So you get to know the writer as well as the book but in a metaphorical linear narrative that is much richer in so many ways. Once you know the artist your interpretation changes, you will automatically see hints of the artist in the work. You could divorce it but that perspective will reflect your own character. It is just another perspective and they are all valid but none of them are the complete picture. With regards to Lolita, Nabokov was consulted and was allowed to write the script. The result being a 7 hour movie shows exactly why literature is totally different to making a film. I would hazard the guess that Kubrick did it deliberately to show Nabokov why you cannot just translate a book into a film. Kubrick famously said: Making a film is like writing War and Peace on the back of postage stamp. You are, however, contradictory, and obviously biased. You say that the book is about abuse but not pornographic. To show the real ugly part of the book would be pornographic and violent but it would not be true Humbert’s perspective. Humbert is in denial. The way he portrays the kind of young girl he gets obsessed with are not just any young girl. The word Nymphet implies sexual attraction. Again I would hazard the guess that in his warped mind he sees a precautious reflection. He sees someone who is more sexual than she is aware of. This idea of children being asexual is a new construct in this politically correct world. It reflects anxieties of the helicopter parents, Children’s sexuality is dormant. Why do you think they play nurses and doctors? Evolution still hasn't been driven out of modern humans. There has always been a conflict between evolutionary forces and modernity. This is what has led to increase in modern mental illnesses, like anxiety, ADHD, or other depressive symptoms. I suggest you read the book Perfume by Patrick Suskind to see how the idea of turning from a child to woman is so fascinating by men and plays on observer's own trauma. Returning to the art of cinema and Lolita, how can a film maker to portray a nine year old as a nymphet? To be able to do that you need to be Humbert not just retelling his narrative. You give me an example of how you would portray a nine year old as a nymphet and be able to get away with the censorship rules of the time and I will withdraw my comment. It is possible, I can imagine such a thing but that would be a sick image that would not be allowed to be shown in any cinema today, never mind then. Besides, it wouldn't be the image that Humbert sees. The images that you manufacture in your mind and find disgusting are the result of social influences too. So, they are not accurate either. Therefore, it would be a futile exercise. You ask why Kubrick made the film but you didn't ask why Nabokov agreed to write the script. Steven King was not happy with Kubrick's adaptation of his Shinning either . That is because those people deal with text where a movie deals with images. The richer the text the more difficult to turn it into visual language. Just look at the adaptation of Foundation on Apple TV. You also failed to mention the later adaptation of the same book that contrary to Kubrick's film disappeared and was forgotten almost immediately despite being far more sexual and probably closer to the images in your mind. Kubrick often took books that resonated with what was on his mind at the time and creates the narrative but he is led by images as he shoots the film. The narrative becomes just the basic skeleton. The flesh that he built on that skeleton can go off in tangents in search of visual magic. As Orson Welles put it: Directing a film is like presiding over an accident. Kubrick always respected the budget and the zeitgeist of the time. He wanted to make films that were accessible but wasn't prepared to compromise his own work unlike say Christopher Nolan who is a celebrity and is increasingly commercial. I don't know how old you are but we are living in the politically correct era that has given birth to a more Victorians morality. You are reflecting the same attitude and that is why it seems that you feel disgust over the film and in fact you twist Nabokov’s writing as well. I have read the book and seen the film. The book implies a lot more ambivalence but the reader can see the sickness of Humbert behind the text even though Humbert doesn't quite see it. Yes, he is an unreliable narrator but there is no other narrator involved. To try to impose your own judgement by conjuring up the images that Humbert only mentions almost in passing as if they weren't that horrible would not be Humbert's Narrative. Kubrick shows Humbert's misery that his delusions have created and how humiliating and paranoid he must have been because of his obsession over his object of desire. I doubt you have picked up on my reference to Buñuel's film. May be you should start there before talking about Kubrick. The film is about failure of plans. Humbert manipulates but he is never in control and loses the object of his desire to another more manipulative guy. It is about how obsession imprisons you and how the reality is different to your fantasy. It is like rape fantasies, that are void of the reality of real rape. Finally, whether you feel disgusted by paedophilia or not, it is part of human condition. 'this gen z kids’ have all been feminized and are too judgmental. Like it or not they are all affected by the crap like Pizza gate . You can't close your eyes to it because the images in your mind make you feel disgusted. These people are the product of the society just like yourself. It is ugly and it take courage to look at it but there are lot of ugly things in this world and it is getting uglier. Don't burry your head in the sand and get lost in your own imagination. You need to open your eyes and look out to see what is going on out.

[@robertomaldonado47]

Restock on SHAKESPEARE shirts please 🙏

[@lestatbutler2675]

Humbert: little girls are so hot The pres: I know right!! Nobokov: what is wrong with you

[@Scarfgirl]

Wow, I can never explain Lolita that quickly. You are brilliant!

[@lesyeuxsansvisage1157]

Heads up, it’s Vladimir Nabokov, not Nobokov.

[@speedracer2008]

That's what people often forget about the book. Nabokov intended for the readers to recognize how messed up Humbert was and call out his justifications as little more than weak excuses.

[@mytruecrimelibrary]

The movies haven't helped, framing Lolita as a love story 🤮

[@thandiislost]

thank you so, so much for using the words "rape" and "molested" instead of sex or flirtation, it reiterates the brutality of what Humbert Humbert did, and Dolores's suffering

[@viralgayguy]

Seconding this. I get tired of KZbinrs saying “r-word” or “intimate abuse” or shit like that. I get it’s for the algorithm, but I hate that our culture might be turning away from calling rape and molestation what it is.

[@GriffithFromBerk]

@@viralgayguythat or when people say “game end”. While not as relevant, it’s just flat out disrespectful and I honestly feel if you’re not gonna take a topic as seriously as it should be taken, then don’t talk about it

[@emilinegabriele]

@@viralgayguynothing wrong w censoring the word.

[@viralgayguy]

@@emilinegabriele I respectfully disagree. I know “rape” is a heavy, loaded word, but that’s because it should be. When people use euphemisms and skirt around saying it, they (unintentionally) soften the blow. I’ve seen people censor themselves so heavily for KZbin monetization’s sake that they make rape sound like consensual sex. We shouldn’t be skirting around calling rape rape. I’m very passionate about this as a victim.

[@angusvansatriani784]

​@@viralgayguyYou know, seeing it in black & white like that, what a disgustingly deviant and unscrupulous way to stop using words! We become the ones sanitizing the vocabulary for their benefit.

[@siriadoni920]

the people who take this book seriously through humbert's pov and call it a romance novel scare me so much.

[@tobymdev]

sounds like you get scared easily

[@Iksvomid]

Romance is scary.

[@delskif1425]

​@tobymdev different kind of scare, mostly just sickening

[@evanwiechert3168]

@@tobymdevif you ever intend on having a daughter, it should absolutely scare the shit out of you

[@ianquick4284]

​@Iksvomid no, but referring to pedophilia and rape as "romance" sure is.

[@tab5870]

I love that you never call her Lolita throughout your video. Her name is Dolores and her nickname is Dolly, only in Humbert’s perspective she is Lolita. Thank you for making this important distinction

[@garynouban6453]

Her name isn't even Dolores, it's an alias Humbert designed for his memoir. So calling her Dolores is basically the same thing as what you allege.

[@invu_lynn]

@@garynouban6453a detail like that makes the whole thing even more sad. Even when we try to say her name, it isn’t her name. It’s one he picked himself

[@rzucamklatwenamojtuszcz1874]

There's a dark irony in the fact that Dolly thinks getting married and pregnant at 17 is her chance to finally have a "normal life" only to later die in a childbirth. The death was her only real escape. I think the book perfectly sums up the pure horror of being a child and a woman in the times it was written.

[@stephanieuzzell8436]

I think the horror still applies a lot to today; look in these very comments, or in pop culture and media which still sexualizes young girls or enacts very mild consequences upon those who perpetrate rape and/or paedophilia. I do think that as a society, we’re getting closer to grasping the point Nabokov was trying to make (see MeToo movement for ex) but we’re still not quite there. Thanks for your comment, it gave me some food for thought.

[@BloodWired]

In truth, it seems that most accounts of pedophilia throughout history have largely referred to men and little boys. This is because female children weren’t seen as individuals who go through a transition of anything except body and that their mind remained largely the same - basically, women were often seen as inherently naive and ignorant throughout their life unless otherwise taught by a male figure. Now, we have guys who are so put-off by women wanting equal social capital, that they turn to young-as-possible children. Why? Because history has built a story that femininity is childish and strength of mind and character is masculine.

[@LittleKikuyu]

It also makes me think about just HOW important reproductive rights actually are for women and girls. That’s a point where we are moving into the past in many regions in the world. It’s frightening.

[@Mrs.TJTaylor]

What do you mean “in the time that it was written”? There never has been and never will be a time when it was/will be safe to be born a female in this world. Never.

[@joaor3357]

@@stephanieuzzell8436 My god imagine being this much of a dilettante that you reduce the message of the masterpiece that is Lolita to being the same as the fucking Metoo movement. Art is not for you bro, go play checkers

[@Grace7X]

"Worst Masterpiece" is what I want inscribed on my tombstone.

[@kiwi659]

Aww 😢😅

[@sigian]

I hope we are buried very far from each other

[@NhungNguyen-zf3bh]

😊😊😊

[@SakuraAsranArt]

Damn, I was gonna have "I was only here for the memes" on my headstone.

[@cruisingscenesandtakingbea4197]

i want "ain't no thang" on mine if I had one which I won't because if you're under 40 you're going to be more likely to die in one of the mass extinction scenarios that are likely to play out in the next 100 years and no one is paying for a tombstone for any of us.

[@maeveriden8887]

It's a great story if you understand that Humbert is the villain... Many people don't understand Humbert's perspective is supposed to be viewed with suspicion, disgust and distain, not to be believe or symphatized with. We are supposed to view him as a despicable con, but Nabokov conveys too well the perspective of such a con, and "Humbert's" manipulations seem to have convinced people I'd venture were already sympathetic to abusers that their view points have validity. I'm only about halfway through, so I dunno that Horses gets to it, but Dolores as a name has its origin in the Latin root "dolor", which means "sorrow", or "pain". Nabokov loved playing with language, and I think her name is key in understanding how he viewed the character. "Lolita" is a false name, only real in Humbert's mind, a coquette, a temptress, a somewhat willing participant. Really, she is Dolores, a child full of pain and sorrow, abused and let down by all the adults close to her in her life.

[@abraxasjinx5207]

That's a great point. Dolor means "ache" in Spanish. I've never seen any film adaptation, but I read the book years ago. It is a disturbing read, and the reader needs to be alert to Humbert's attempts at flattery. The ending is so sad, that these vicious self-serving men used up a young child before she left her teenage years behind.

[@ozrictentacles3467]

As someone who studied this book at university, I wished I had this video to reference for analysis. I also appreciate your perspective. Humbert as a pedophile, narcissist and sociopath has been sooo cleverly constructed, he’s managed to hoodwink many of the readers, because these types of people are artisans of manipulation. Look at actual reality…. How depraved men such as ‘charming’ Bundy got away with a lot and even got into politics, or Dahmer convincing authorities that his young escapee was drunk and acting immature before they handed him back to his killer. Lolita is a remarkable first person insight into the textbook capabilities, depravities and intelligence of people who commit abuse and how their justifications, positions of power and charisma allow them to reoffend.

[@OGRE_HATES_NERDS]

shes built for speed like a black castrum dolores

[@rkivelover]

@@abraxasjinx5207 yes omg I didn't think of this, the Latin root means "pain/suffering"! Such a profound addition to the message.

[@t_ylr]

Yeah exactly I remember being on Tumblr back in the day and being so confused by groups of girls who were really into Lolita. Then I actually read it and I later learned that a lot of those girls were survivors of SA and it all made sense.

[@danilousuga410]

This horse has better skills for editing than me

[@zacharyphillips8551]

Man's is slowly fixing the video essay meta stggg

[@ojikhan4582]

Well it’s more than one horse, so don’t feel too bad! Lol

[@ThatDamnCommi3]

*These Horses have better editing skills than you

[@pat7785]

Its actually multiple horses so they kinda share the workload.

[@risuenor3652]

Quite the horsepower indeed.

[@potatopirate5557]

Sorry I don't have more, but as a female survivor, I had to say thank you so much for this accurate & insightful assessment. Excellent work. I pity the author who could have really taught us something but apparently overestimated his audience.

[@HorsesOnYT]

[@hughcaldwell1034]

Honestly, I don't pity Nabokov at all. He was definitely fully aware of the various ways the work could be misinterpreted. He created it as an intellectual and aesthetic exercise, and vehemently denied that it was supposed to have any moral lesson one way or the other. I'm not saying he shouldn't have written it, but he was intelligent enough to know exactly what he was doing. He absolutely did not overestimate the average casual reader, but nor was he writing for them.

[@lanavita6783]

​@@hughcaldwell1034 Everything can be misinterpreted, but people should not need a book to tell them a relationship between a grown man and a child cannot be a love story and that the child is in any way responsible for what happens to them. This argument of yours could be used against Crime and Punishment as well, "How is the average reader supposed to know murder is wrong when the narrator clearly justifies it?!?", "Dostoevsky knew people would misinterpret it." etc etc. If someone misinterprets a work as badly as "Lolita is a love story", that is on them, not the author. People are able to twist anything to suit their agenda.

[@hughcaldwell1034]

@@lanavita6783 I'm not sure what you think my argument was. I didn't say people needed Nabokov to tell them that CSA is awful. It was the original commenter who said Nabokov could have taught us something. I just said that I didn't pity him for his work being received the way it was, because he was clearly aware of this danger beforehand.

[@LittleKikuyu]

Honestly, I was a teen when I read this book and even I got that this is a tragedy and Dolores is the victim. How daft do you need to be ? 😂 Humbert insofar is a tragic character too as he can’t help his perversion and there might be a reason for it in his childhood but that doesn’t exculpate him one bit, of course.

[@space_1073]

This guy is a writer, philosopher, but not enough people realize he must be a graphic designer as well. There is such a clear and consistent asthetic throughout the entire channel, and the merch is very artistic and interesting.

[@jurassicjordan7229]

Legit inspiring. It's so impress how clean and simple it is

[@nagoranerides3150]

He is (or has been) in fact a skilled professional chef, so presentation is important to him.

[@quinnlove5777]

I dunno about graphic designer, because if he were one he could just create his own images, but instead, in a previous video as recent as 10 months ago, he admitted to be using AI to generate his images thus his “artwork”.

[@space_1073]

@@quinnlove5777 Alright don't be so gatekeepy about what counts as being an artist. Besides, I said he has an eye for graphic design. His thumbnails and the photos he picks alone are artistically done. You can't discredit his entire status as graphic designer because he uses AI as a tool.

[@kenji527]

​@quinnlove5777 lol I guess chefs can't ever eat out only meals they cook themselves

[@Kestrel512]

When I was 14 years old, I came across the first paragraph of Lolita on Goodreads, and was immediately enchanted by Nabokov's language (still one of the best opening lines to a book of all time). So of course I went and read the book, even though I was definitely too young for it. There were other books that I read around the same age that definitely scared me (Lord of the Flies, Zel, Diary of Anne Frank) but Lolita never did. Probably because a lot of the sex scenes are glossed over, but mostly to me it seemed that Humbert was so clearly evil, and because the readers know from the beginning that he ends up in an asylum, I read it thinking that no matter what he did to Delores, at least at the end he would be justly punished. The only thing that absolutely surprised and horrified me Delores's ending. Because I was still a kid, and optimistic, I was expecting her to "win". I remember wishing she could kill Humbert, even though it didn't fit the flashback-style story structure. I was hoping that Delores could outwit him and save herself, or at least be saved by someone else, so the part where she trades him in for another pedophile just hit me like a gut-punch. Even though she's never presented in a positive light, to me it seemed like she was still obviously the sympathetic character, so she should clearly "win". And the part where she visits him and isn't even angry at him anymore just killed me, because I realized he was able to hurt her and get away with it - and that victims don't always get happy endings. I reread it again recently and it's still one of my favorite books of all time, but I hate the way people talk about Delores. Reading the book while being only a few years older than her character made me think I definitely would not want to be friends with her; but I still knew she was clearly traumatized and not at fault for anything. Way to long of a comment, but I absolutely love this book. Also - love all the butterfly imagery.

[@jddelphin]

The butterfly imagery got me. Speaking to the beautiful horror of a bug collection. "Oh would you care to see my collection of dessicated insect corpses? The palpable fragility! The reverberant color! Dead and pinned to a board!" Horrifying. Very well done.

[@LittleKikuyu]

It made me think of the novel „The Collector“. The main character is equally despicable while less erm flamboyant. There are some parallels to Lolita…

[@genericamerican7574]

I read a book called ‘Go Ask Alice’ for a book report when I was a freshman. I got the book from a selection in my class. I honestly was shocked my teacher had the book and more shocked she was fine with my book report. I got to talk about it in class for extra credit. Messed up book. They present it as an anonymous diary 📔 though it’s a work of fiction. Apparently it is big on the banned list.

[@tinyhouseranch]

You’re commenting was so insincere as I have not read the book ..! thank you fellow subscriber and human woman

[@genericamerican7574]

Wow. My comment is gone and I am still getting a notification from a random comment that didn’t even tag me.

[@ddumbbee]

It’s honestly upsetting how the original intention of this book was bastardized. I personally believe Kubrick knew exactly what he was doing when he decided to adapt Lolita. He didn’t care about the original subject matter, he wanted something controversial that he could exploit. Lolita is a book that was ahead of its time. I’m glad it’s being discussed more in recent years and that the subject matter is being taken seriously

[@flatterswhite]

Kubrick adaptations were never very faithful, I dont think he had bad intentions, I think it's just a different interpretation

[@ddumbbee]

@@flatterswhite it’s not about the adaptation being faithful to the original story, he took a story about abuse and turned it into a controversial romance. The entire movie and it’s marketing feeds into the idea of Lolita being the perpetrator rather than the victim. He clearly didn’t have good intentions when he decided to make that adaptation.

[@flatterswhite]

@@ddumbbee oh no the fictional character is being falsely portrayed :((

[@Dagger-th2ik]

@@flatterswhiteI think the issue with it wasn't necessarily that Dolores was falsely portrayed, but that her story involving experiences of CSA were, which is an issue that isn't fictional

[@flatterswhite]

@@Dagger-th2ik but that particular issue was fictional?

[@Garden0flowr]

Nabokov wrote a realistic horror novel from the perspective of the monster, and its been mishandled so much since its release Thanks for this video

[@amirak645]

The critic comments about dolly were actually so terrifying

[@adamatari]

That’s perhaps the worst part, and can’t be dismissed as simply being “fooled by the unreliable narrator” - it’s that any flash of her as being a human being or less than a perfect victim is seen by these men as reason she deserves abuse. An adolescent girl dares to be anything but the perfect doll for adults and she’s thrown under the bus. A double layer of being unseen, really, either “Dolly” the stainless child or “Lolita” the fetish object but never Dolores.

[@SnakeEyes.MP4]

@@adamatarithis shit pisses me off. Definitely some kind of Pedophilia forgivers in Popular Media companies

[@Naathalia12]

Specially coming from women

[@LolaHaze]

​@@adamatari I love the last sentence. It was really never Dolores. The little girl who was cheeky and bratty and tan and tomboyish and liked to read comics and practiced kissing with girls in summer camp and played tennis and loved riding her bike. Dolores was a young orphaned girl placed in horrifying circumstances... excuse her for not being little miss perfect🤦‍♀️

[@GiulianaBruna]

In one hand, I think we are ready for an accurate Lolita adaptation. On the other hand, that can go so so wrong I wish it never occurs.

[@AbdulRahman-vy7ko]

if it's objective filming then the audience can finally understand what lolita is going through because it would be more reliable (unless they choose to show it through hos romanticized perspective)

[@gRinchY-op5vr]

The 90s one didn't do such a bad job imo, I watched it before reading the book and even then got the message Humbert is not a reliable narrator...but even if he was she is still just a child and he is the predatory adult responsible for the situation. I know people have taken issue with Dolores being aged up to 14 instead of 12, but atleast she wasn't aged up to 16 like Kubericks version. Could they have made a better film? Yes, but I'll take it over Kuberick's version because it definitely got the point of the book better

[@AbdulRahman-vy7ko]

@@gRinchY-op5vr ⚠️trigger warning (mention of r***) tbh I just feel like lolita as a piece of literature shouldn't be adapted into anything else. Also just like it's writer wanted, the cover of the girl should also be removed. It's just that it's really hard to make a worthy adaptation and I just personally feel like it'll end up making the child who plays Dolores sexualized by disgusting men and that would be harmful to the actress.. I think Natalie Portman said somewhere that she got a mail letter in which someone wrote a sexual fantasy of ra**** her. I feel like Natalie is a strong woman but anyone would be affected by such BS so it should stay only as a piece of literature to better convey what the writer wanted to without putting someone at harm's way

[@Definatalie]

As a woman and victim of SA I have never been able to bring myself to read Lolita but this essay is phenomenal and I'm very glad I watched it. I love the parallel you've drawn with the misinformation in this day and age.

[@KarkatVantasBitches]

It is forever baffling to me that people would blame a 12 year old girl for her own sexual abuse. Even if she were, somehow, a "seductress", the onus is on the adults in her life to NOT sexually abuse her. Any sane adult wouldn't do sexual things with a 12 year old even if that 12 year old was pushing really hard for it. They'd be disgusted and concerned.

[@JakubWasikiewicz]

I was 13 or 14 years old and was in an advanced English class in my first or second year of high school. I had this teacher who made me pick my own book to do an essay on. I would go through the library and come back with a stack of books and they would be denied one after the other because she wanted me to do something advanced. I eventually had two, this and Moby Dick (god that one was a slog for someone who didn't care about literary symbolism). I wrote my essay about how Humbert Humbert was an unreliable, manipulative narrator or something or other (this was a looooong time ago). I thought i wrote a pretty good essay about literary themes. I remember losing marks because my teacher said I wasn't sympathetic enough to Humbert and didn't write enough about how Lolita was trying to influence or corrupt him with her sexuality. Man that was a creepy year.

[@amdonut8091]

​@@JakubWasikiewicz WTF....

[@celedhion]

A 12 year old can only be a "seductress" in the eyes of a pedo. There is no room for nuance. To be attracted to a child is to be a pedo.

[@hafeezahbashir2516]

​@@JakubWasikiewicz wow wtf. I'm happy you wrote the truth regardless

[@ExiledGypsy]

​@@JakubWasikiewicz Why do you think empathy should be reserved for those who can conform to social norms of the time. To empathise with Humbert is difficult and may be that was what your teacher wanted you to recognise. So, if no one is to empethise with Humbert, what are we do with people like that. Capital punishment? Your judgment will have a concequences but I doubt you are prepated to take responsiblity for those consequences. Doesn't that make you just as ignorant or in denial as Humbert? These people are already astrocised by society which is not something for me to decide because I don't think that is a solution and it will make them more dangerous specially that there doesn't seem to any nuance in judgements except double standards. Have you seen "May, December", the recent film about the woman who manipulate a 12 year old boy? Then 30 years later an actress in pursue of playing an authentic role manipulated the same guy in order to experience manipulation first hand. This is what I can't understand about social norms. The are like fashion and they become more like fetishism. Why people like Humbert now? Why not other stuff? Is it because it involves sex? What is it about sex that brings out such viceral reaction. Would it help if some criminal who kidnap kids and kill them would skip the sex part and just kill them in some other ritualistic way? Can't you see that it is the images fed to you that creates this hierarchy?

[@rebekahm6672]

It’s so tragic she never got the normal life she deserved. Didn’t get to have a childhood and neither an adulthood really.

[@sparklegirlsies]

humbert referring to himself as a nymphile reminds me of modern usuage of MAPS

[@Swellpunk]

You’re telling me a horse fried this video essay

[@benmiloudafaf5904]

H. H. never truly loved Dolores because he really couldn’t even see her as human and in my opinion this book does a great job at conveying the great lengths people like that will go to to lie to themselves and the world. As long as you don’t let him fool you…this is exactly how an abuser’s mind works and I appreciate Nabokov ( thou I find the novel disturbing) for writing it out this way and materializing the thoughts I always knew that abusers had.

[@geordiejones5618]

The opening chapter, which I think is just two or three short paragraphs, is the greatest intro to a book ever written. In retrospect it perfectly sets up Humbert's attitude and forecasts the horror yet to unfold.

[@Dave_the_Dave]

You mean Humbert Humbert?

[@geordiejones5618]

@@Dave_the_Dave yes edited

[@katherinepalmer1901]

Nabokov somehow wrote the most relatable depiction of a girl as a man…but ironically only with her absence

[@lupine.spirit161]

thinking about how this book is handled and romanticized makes me want to rip my skin off

[@vzoen6015]

If i see one more "# nymphet # coquette" on a selfie of an adult woman wearing heart shades im gonna croak

[@MrDannMann]

New horses video? Stop everything immediately!

[@kaiserv88]

True, I was watching a movie, got a notification, and boom, watching now.

[@Peter_Kropotkin]

Literally

[@heidiwolf1793]

Same.

[@francescofulghieri9608]

real

[@alexclarke152]

This channel has proven to me that quality content is so much more important than a name. Dude literally picked one of the most common random words, and it does not matter in the least bit because his content is so well put together.

[@LittleKikuyu]

I think Kubrick‘s „Lolita“ completely misses the point of this book. 🤦🏼‍♀️

[@Sauceman10_]

I think it also had to do with how the movie needed to be censored as that type of movie would have been unheard of especially for 1960s Hollywood. The movie took more of the dark comedy route from the book and made the heinous things more underlying

[@garynouban6453]

@@Sauceman10_ Kubrick himself stated that if he knew the censors would remove so much from Nabokov's script, he'd never have made it. Kubrick never even considered the film part of his "canon," putting it in the same pit as Spartacus, where he didn't have creative control of his project. This idea that Kubrick missed the point of the book is just crazy. He didn't, the constraints of film release in the early 60s made making the movie impossible. Kubrick learned his lesson and adapted a far more explicit novel not even a decade later.

[@joseph-fernando-piano]

Lolita is basically if Blood Meridian were written from the POV of The Judge…

[@Hvision0000]

youre right bro

[@Jessiepinkman400]

Sholita ☠️

[@lambsauce5312]

I mean Humbert is a sack of shit but he ain't a mass murderer

[@milesdishner9936]

in the saddest of ways, i see my life reflected back to me in this book, and i want to lash out but all i can do is hold it to my chest and say thank god it's here for me. thank god i have art, because i don't have people.

[@fivethousandnine]

Hope you’re good 🤍🤍🤍

[@milesdishner9936]

@@fivethousandnine i've wanted to reply to this to thank you for just saying this, because it matters when people reach out in little ways, i think. i tend to overcomplicate my replies, typically. at the end of the day, im just glad to hear from someone

[@nosferatv_07]

hope you heal honey

[@fivethousandnine]

@@milesdishner9936 🫶🏽🫶🏽🫶🏽

[@PySimpleGUI]

This, your work, is a stunning masterpiece. "They can't possibly get better than this" is what I am thinking when I leave one of these "thank you's"....and every time it seems that I'm incorrect. Keep spreading the word! I ❤ what you broadcast to the world Michael.

[@casijj]

100 like that

[@HorsesOnYT]

thank you once again

[@nannerthepuss]

As a (terrible) python dev, I saw your username and thought I should tell you I appreciate your work, whatever the capacity may be. Maintained as well as any pypa package and fills a void in python GUI development that isn't already filled a dozen times over the way many public packages are (I'm looking at you, wrapper for a wrapper based on an old abandoned wrapper).

[@thevillager8339]

I learned today that the word person originally meant face mask. Oh, how true it has become

[@Fawn91193]

"Persona" is a film written and directed by Ingmar Bergman. Check it out.

[@watermelonlalala]

I read that "persona" is an Etruscan word that survived into modern English. Yes, it meant mask. The actors in ancient plays wore them on stage.

[@emilroy6882]

Thanks.. Love from India Your videos are thought Provoking and deeply moving I haven't read the book or watched the movie But I do realise how people can be manipulated when the story is narrated in the first person perspective

[@scronx]

All I can tell you is the original movie is despicable.

[@hoopsmccann_]

Bro, you deserve every little single piece of praise anyone ever gives you. Your content is not only absurdly on point, but the fact that you’re cranking it out at this pace gives us viewers a pleasure that I don’t think you’ll ever understand. Thank you Michael 🙏🙏🙏

[@LethalBubbles]

the way humbert becomes violent when his fetish object stops aligning with his make believe is one of the most accurate depictions of predators I've seen. it says a lot about how egocentric it all is.

[@Dylan28969]

Your videos are beautiful even when it is entrenched in the darkest of themes. It's a testament to your storytelling, your visual editing, and your insightful analysis. None of it is lost on me. Thank you for sharing

[@tylerlynch2849]

Horses is without doubt the most interesting and original creative project currently ongoing on KZbin. A big thank you

[@zacharyphillips8551]

I cannot begin to express how much i enjoy this channel. Theres no overlying arcs or agendas to what you make, and you make whatever you want, as best as you can. Keep going dude, keep doing you!❤

[@bundysbunkerage257]

agreed. it"s a well maintained journey. a blend of topics i know well, a bit or not at all. the mellow delivery of very measured views on humanity's unique talent, to go from "inspired & hopeful" to "fear & darkness (because... 'reasons' )" , creates a compelling ride (for me, at least). An effort towards nuance, which makes essays like his, a created video ( especially compared to most "manufactured-content"). i already went to far into redundant "adjectives, commas & co" overkill^^ so: visuals also good i'm glad this channel keeps thriving

[@yts70r135]

Exactly what I think and admire about Horses. I am in awe each and every time. Many of his themes and dissertations are things I was passionate about in the past - but I gave up. I really look up to this creator. He never ceases to amaze me.

[@gohardorgohome6693]

“Light of my life, fire of my loins” is such a pretty expression and most people don’t know who said it or why

[@gRinchY-op5vr]

Also something that would be very nice to be told...provided you aren't a 12 year old girl

[@automatic241]

The speed and quality you produce this stuff at is incredible! I just wish they would be on Spotify faster, because I usually like to listen to them on the go.

[@ckolcz]

You are my favourite yt channel. Every video is a work of art. Simply amazing.

[@kelso_]

As usual you covered your topic so beautifully and with respect to the character. I appreciate your work ! Please keep it up you are amazing 💖

[@lymphaticjeopardy]

I remember reading Lolita for the first time at the age of 15. I had signed up to take the AP Literature exam, but my school didn't offer that class, so I had to prepare for it entirely on my own. I had a list of books that I knew I needed to read and I picked Lolita first. I'd heard so many people talk about the quality of it's writing, about how it'd been banned for it's subject matter, and I knew enough to walk in disgusted. I remember the 4 days I spent reading it. I took longer than usual for a book of it's size simply because I kept becoming utterly and completely disgusted and having to take breaks. There are phrases from that book that are burned into my mind simply because of the sheer mixture of beauty and disgust that they made me feel. It was fucking horrifying and yet I can honestly say it's one of my favorite books of all time. No work I've come across since has ever been as effective as Lolita, at least for me. The clarity of vision, mastery of tone and language, and realism of the circumstances depicted are going to live with me forever. I will never understand how anyone can read it and not be filled with utter disgust and rage. I think this essay excellently captured the feelings I had while reading and communicates the reality of how nuanced the work is.

[@xilo6830]

Also from the afterword: "Teachers of Literature are apt to think up such problems as ‘What is the author’s purpose? or still worse What is the guy trying to say? Now, I happen to be the kind of author who in starting to work on a book has no other purpose than to get rid of that book and who, when asked to explain its origin and growth, has to rely on such ancient terms as Interreaction of Inspiration and Combination-which, I admit, sounds like a conjurer explaining one trick by performing another." "There are gentle souîs who would pronounce Lolita meaningless because it does not teach them anything. I am neither a reader nor a writer of didactic fiction, and, despite John Ray’s assertion, Lolita has no moral in tow. For me a work of fiction exists only in so far as it affords me what I shall bluntly call aesthetic bliss, that is a sense of being somehow, somewhere, connected with other States of being where art (curiosity, tenderness, kindness, ecstasy) is the norm. There are not many such books. All the rest is either topical trash or what some call the Literature of Ideas, which very often is topical trash coming in huge blocks of plaster that are carefully transmitted from age to age until somebody comes along with a hammer and takes a good crack at Balzac, at Gorki, at Mann. Another charge which some readers hâve made is that Lolita is anti-American. This is something that pains me considerably more than the idiotie accusation of immorality." and so on. I unfortunately can't post the whole afterword but please read it!

[@Bubbamacomb]

probably my favorite channel. I'd love an in-depth video on surrealism or a prominent surrealist artist.

[@markmous9962]

I dont get how you dont have more subscribers, you post the best video essays on this app and your insights are amazing.

[@cinthiamunoz3195]

Always finding amazing essays in this channel. Thank you

[@OldManJenkins23]

Cranking out gold, so glad I found this channel, thx for another excellent video

[@SenhoritaF.]

Great choice of visuals on this one, definitely breaking away from the sugarcoated hazy/romantic imagery that is so strongly associated with this book. It has a realistic vibe that grounds it very well. That footage of the shower through the partially open door was particularly chilling (not to mention that Humbert portrait as well).

[@zach-0]

Thank you for making this video. I’ve tried to read the book a couple times, even reading more Nobokov, but it makes me sick to my stomach. I’m glad I can have a better understanding of it now.

[@twigythekidd]

I'm glad you were able to get this video up ❤

[@Farcamp1]

Intelligent and compassionate take on a most horrific masterpiece.

[@gman12]

New to your channel and I’m loving every one of your essays. Amazing work!

[@michal_placzek]

Congratulations, this is a really masterful and easy to comprehend essay on nuanced matter. And thank you for acknowledging VN's love for butterflies.

[@gonthedriver]

Thanks a lot. Your summary capacity plus your easy presentation makes it so easy to digest and aprehend

[@laurafergs88]

I live the clarity and sensitivity with which you tackle all your videos, @Horses I feel I genuinely learn something from each of them and this is no exception. Thank you

[@levikellett4308]

Crazy that I just finished this book a few days ago and was wishing I had someone to discuss it with. Thank you for doing a deep dive into a book that’s difficult to talk about publicly.

[@shannonparker7404]

Sir, I appreciate your work very much. Thankyou for the effort. Your channel is a quiet gem of the internet.

[@thebigman1688]

Been subbed since 200K and m very happy to see you gain the audience you deserve man. Good work, keep it up!!

[@Rebeccas_penmanship]

The most beautifully written novel...one I wish I could read for the first time again. The craft, poetry, wit, language-- Nabokov astounds. My favorite aesthetic expressions are those which seem lovely, beautiful, floral, sweet, but like a pretty lace drapery over something which is dark, wrong, horrofying. Is there a word for this play between beauty and horror? "She was only the faint violet whiff and dead leaf echo of the nymphet I had rolled myself upon with such cries in the past; an echo on the brink of a russet ravine, with a far wood under a white sky, and brown leaves choking the brook, and one last cricket in the crisp weeds."

[@guidcs0]

When Dolores finally finds happiness , she dies. What a brutal and realistic portray of how unfair life is.

[@seraphsong]

This is the first video of yours that I've watched. Great analysis. Very visually beautiful as well. Will be checking out more of your stuff.

[@milenademilo]

Amazing video as always 💛

[@viralgayguy]

I have a very vivid memory of being in high school 10+ years ago, at lunch, arguing with my older friend about Lolita. I had never read the book; she had. I told her it was a book that should never have been published and I was angry at its very existence. My friend tried to tell me that the book didn’t glorify the relationship, but I wouldn’t listen. I eventually read Lolita in my early 20s, shortly after my abuser died, and it was a hard read. I was so incensed at the very concept of Lolita because I had been abused as a child shortly before I had that argument with my friend, and I hated the idea of anything that represented anything like I’d experienced existing at all. Lolita actually was cathartic to read in a way, though-it’s hard to explain. It was painful and sickening but it made me feel like I wasn’t wrong, if that makes any sense. That friend and I are still friends to this day, and we’ve discussed that conversation we had where I yelled at her. At the time, she was being actively groomed by her English teacher (she was 16, he was ~40; I was never taught by him but I did witness him kissing her once). We were both lashing out from very disparate “readings” of Lolita-she had actually read it and took it as kind of aspirational while also intellectually knowing the relationship portrayed was wrong, and I hadn’t read it but knew the gist of it and was dead set on it being an evil book. The truth is that it’s just a book, open for interpretation and sometimes interpreted for the wrong reasons. For anyone curious, my friend cut all contact with the English teacher and is now happily engaged. I don’t know what happened to the teacher. As far as I know he’s still married with kids. :/

[@jimbobhk2009]

I was abused, only once but that was enough for me to understand all the feelings of shame regret and losing innocence. Didn’t talk about it for 10 years. I think Nabokov may have been molested by his uncle, it’s not fact but a lot of scholars think so. I think this was basically a story condemning the destruction of innocence. He came across quite pompous and pretentious but really was a highly moral man

[@scottblack7182]

This may very well be one of the most important videos ever uploaded to the dumpster fire we call youtube .. excellent work , well done . ❤

[@emmacorby4611]

Appreciate the tie in at the end for how we can apply the same criticism of this book's narrator to the current state of news and world events. We fail to realize how coloured our perspectives can become just by being enchanted by the one telling the story. Enjoy your channel so much.

[@marco12535]

Beautiful video, you never fail to impress

[@RoshDroz]

Holy crap, this is so much different than the film. Same occurrences mostly, but the movie doesn't show her overtly struggling and being upset at her treatment. Also skips humberts sanitorium stays

[@human_wreckage]

Glad to see the creeps are being bullied in the comments

[@Greanwud]

Thank you so much i feel like i finally understand how this book/film could be a thing and wow do i feel bad for Nabokov. Amazing video!

[@lisa5249]

It is a masterfully written book… but may I say how blown away I was by the footage in this video of driving in Sedona az in the 80s! I grew up there, and it added to the wistful beauty of this visual parade

[@THE_MOONMAN]

Jeez I've never cringed for 30 minutes straight before, my composure is not easily broken... Seriously, thanks for breaking down this story. I've heard it's great for understanding the mind of both the victim and those who victimize. Though there's no way I could have gotten through this whole novel. This shortened version of events is already harrowing. I can only imagine the horror for someone who's had to live through such events. Even hearing about such things is terrifying and makes me recoil.

[@MegaTwitchers]

Reassured that I'm not the only one 😭 I don't even think I can watch the rest of this and I'm already 5 minutes in

[@ines1s]

Hmm very true, i agree with every point presented (havent even seen the video)

[@khaldub]

I appreciate the way you laid this out. Never realized how much impact that Lolita film poster had on the term for decades.

[@MixeetGaming]

One of the best video essays I have ever listened to, bravo man. You didn't disrespect any on the contents in the book by mislabeling them, no, you got everything absolutely correct. An absolutely magnificent video.

[@marcoscosta829]

@Horses a total shot in the dark but I would love to watch a video of yours talking about the history of Spain and its separatist regions such as Catalonia, the Basque Country, etc

[@etasjo]

worst roadtrip ever

[@stepp___]

lol

[@kowaipudden9733]

This was so beautifully done and gets down to the core of what media has done with this content and why it's important for critical thinking skills. Thank you for this

[@CmdrGamagosk]

I had only heard of this story in passing and had never heard more than how it changed fashion. I regret, yet am relieved, to have heard more about it. I think I am going to have to read the story.

[@JHanrahan]

Your work is exceptional

[@DrAnarchy69]

As an autistic person I often have trouble with reading unreliable narrators. Since I have enormous trouble knowing when people are lying in person, it’s even harder with fictional characters. That’s why I find books such as Lolita distasteful. That’s not to say I think these books are of poor quality. It simply means I hate reading them

[@brianjones9780]

In Anthropology i had to watch and write a response about child marriage culture in Bangladesh. It was rough. 12 is about when the girl might be found a suitor, who basically pays the parents. The girl often gets pregnant immediately and having a child at 12 is unjustifiably risky to her health. They often either die or have unresolvable health issues afterwards. It gets into worse detail how poorly they're treated and if they're not able to have children anymore they must sleep in the barn with the goats. I couldn't think how any father could let this happen. I find it appalling that it's considered acceptable for men to treat a girl that way especially one so young, and that her life is an acceptable loss if she doesn't make it through the pregnancy. It's bizarre. Lolita is bizarre. Just because a girl "could" have a child that young doesn't mean it's okay to really do it.

[@r.w.bottorff7735]

This channel is on a dizzying upward trajectory that threatens to puncture the digital atmosphere. Great work!

[@diveinnjim]

it's classic grooming of a vulnerable child. its a fantastic, creepy, sometimes funny book.

[@anwtf]

Lolita has been my favorite book for a while, I'm so happy you made a video about it!!

[@manueljohn456]

Wow... How you use sound design is awesome.

[@alexandermcnamara1250]

I really really enjoy these videos. Can you please do an in-depth analysis of one of Bret Easton Ellis's works such as Lunar Park or American Psycho. I've just done a literature essay on him and would be interesting to see your view on his work.

[@matchalatte9612]

one thing i think is missing from the lolita discourses is the rhetoric used by predatory men/pedophile in real life. if you ever had a conversation with any of them as a young girl, first i’m sorry and second: they always have the same things to say. they always justify their actions by saying how you’re special from the others, that they’re not a monster, it’s just a quirk to their personality, that they’re just more open minded, etc etc. so if this book is written as the justification from a pedophile, of course humbert is going to use all of those points in his own pretentious way because that’s how pedophiles manipulate everyone into thinking that it’s ok. it’s incredibly disingenuous to criticize this book for “glorifying pedophilia” in defense of survivors or even make fun of young girls that enjoy this book because not only are you not engaging with the book properly, but it shows that you are outright ignorant about the lived experiences of survivors of grooming and other abuses. on a lighter note i think the thumbnail of this video could make a great cover for lolita, especially in light of how much the themes in this book have been bastardized to further perpetuate this harmful image put on survivors of csa

[@dontpickonme]

You should take a look at Thomas Mann's The Magic Mountain and early experimental narratives. Its a tough read, but one of the most influential novels on many tremendously influential writers.

[@DellaStreet123]

Well-made, thoughtful video. The book has been one of my favorites for decades, and whenever I read it again, some of Humbert's words make me laugh, like his frustration when construction workers block his view of the school where little girls go in and out by erecting a scaffolding -- only to never return again. He certainly deserved to have his view blocked, but who hasn't experienced that phenomenon? Whether it's 1948 or 2024...the construction workers come, they set everything up, including the porta-potty...and then nothing happens for weeks, sometimes months, it seems. Or, toward the end, when Humbert fools Ivor Quilty into revealing the whereabouts of his famous nephew by baiting him with an offer he cannot resist: Pull all of his teeth and make him a full set of dentures. Once Humbert has gotten the information he truly wanted, he tells Ivor Quilty that he will have "Dr. Molnar" do it. He charges more, but he's the better dentist. Humbert then tells his kind reader that he's aware most of us will never be able to savor that experience, it's simply awesome. -- Nabokov himself didn't like dentists, rarely saw one and had notoriously bad teeth, and he gave Humbert bad teeth as well. -- You are right saying that Vladimir Nabokov did not side with Humbert. He said so explicitly, and you can tell when you read the book that it is written with a lot of compassion for Dolores. We should be careful not to turn Nabokov into a champion of women's rights, though. He was quite a male chauvinist, and he liked to write from the point of view of pedophiles attracted to 12-year-old girls. In his poem "Lilith", the male character is led on by the "little girl" who literally leads him by the tip of his dick. In "The Enchanter", the anonymous girl's nakedness is described in a very sensuous way. Unlike "Lolita", this novella of Nabokov's is climactic, like pornography. Nabokov was adamant that "Lolita" was not pornography (and it is not) because it is anti-climactic. The most explicit parts take part in the first half of the book, in the second half, almost everything is hinted at. Almost everything. Humbert still reminisces about how, when he was attempting to cuddle Dolores in a non-sexual way after sex, he'd get yet another erection, only for Lolita to say "No, not again." But, yes, on the whole it is anti-climactic and unlike pornography, the book does not aim to arouse the reader. -- Nabokov also wrote a book about a technically underage girl who was manipulative, it's called Laughter in the Dark. In that book, a 17-year-old (much older than Dolores, but still underage) girl manipulates a 50-something man to abandon his wife and to marry her. Nabokov was familiar with the trope of the young seductress and he incorporated it into his works.

[@brandichelse0502]

This channel, is amazing.

[@samuelsocha2767]

Ngl this horse makes some pretty banger vids

[@gus2421]

When I was school my English teacher said we shouldn't read lolita because it's pro pedophilia, crazy how people think you can't write from the perspective of someone without agreeing with his actions.

[@aaronnix4291]

The butterfly b-roll is a very nice touch.

[@fmeu7733]

Beautiful video about one of my favorite books 🙏

[@texastacoss]

Babe, wake up, the horse man posted again

[@C1ockwork]

My god the amount of times i always thought that nobody has touched this issue before, and the fact you did in this well documented manner means so much to me, thank you.

[@roecocoa]

You might also enjoy Lola Sebastian's video essays on the subject.

[@onbearfeet]

I highly recommend Jamie Loftus's Lolita Podcast for another great examination of this whole thing.

[@zirconiumaloe]

​@@onbearfeetoh that Jamie loftus. The one who murdered someone with a hammer in grand rapids Michigan

[@Shmyrk]

Very strange; just yesterday I was feeling horrible about never returning the copy of this very book that a former coworker loaned me.

[@Sandra-hc4vo]

Nabokov did a masterful job of writing the most disturbed of minds and how crafty such a person can be to hide their true malevolence. and i think the key to understanding that is seeing how you can never really know Delores cause he doesn't actually care to know her.

[@evangelinehoke5512]

Thank you for this documentary