Thanks for the suggestion Devi.

I've seen the film with Dominique Swayne and Jeremy Irons and it is indeed a theme that raises many questions. I thought of reading the book but haven't done so yet.

It is always a good idea to give a link when you suggest a book to be discussed, so here it is:

http://www.amazon.com/Annotated-Lolita- ... 110&sr=1-2

Nabokov is a literary icon, I have had Lolita in my sights for some time and would love the opportunity to dive into it.

My only concern would be that perhaps the plot is too mature for the forum?

By "too mature for the forum" I suppose you are referring tactfully to the main theme? I see no reason why we couldn't tackle this.

This book has been at the back of my mind for a while, with its reputation of being one of the masterpieces of English literature.
The study of language sounds enticing, and I'm also attracted to the opposition between Europe (Humbert) and America (Lolita, Quilty) and how this is worked out in the novel -which I haven't read yet.

Here is another reference if you don't know the book and want to know what it's about:

http://www.sparknotes.com/lit/lolita/themes.html

That particular link is very useful thank you soo much.

I've ordered the book from Amazon, now we only need a 4th person to agree on Lolita and we can make it official.

Any ideas?

I would not mind reading Lolita. I have watch the black and white film verison and would love to read the book. So if you need a 4th vote, I am your girl!

I agree with Ophelia in that nothing is really too mature for this community. We don't have children as members and there are great books out there with very mature themes.

The Lord of the Rings idea is the most exciting to me, but based on my meager participation in past discussions I don't want to sway the vote too much. Whatever book we choose we should do so VERY soon. And then it would be wonderful if members would help spread the word all over the web. Any site you visit you could leave a little message about the upcoming fiction book discussion - and include a link to BookTalk.org. Would you guys be willing to help in that fashion?

I've picked up Lolita repeatedly through the years, but I'd really like to have some external motivation to read it.

I'm fairly new to this forum and I don't want to sway the selection process either since I'm not entirely sure I'll participate at this point. It sounds interesting, to be sure, but I find that my reading time is already limited. Regarding the Lord of the Rings, that's quite a mammoth undertaking. Would you divide the discussion into one book at a time? Over how long a period of time would the discussion go?

Thanks in advance for the info.

Geo wrote:

Regarding the Lord of the Rings, that's quite a mammoth undertaking. Would you divide the discussion into one book at a time? Over how long a period of time would the discussion go?

I'm a specialist in mammoth books.
Most people prefer short books but I keep suggesting them because that's what I read and I think I've already suggested every short book I know-- this is to say that during the time I've been at BT we've never discussed a long book. If Lord of the Rings was chosen I imagine that we would read the books in chronological order, and plan for a two-month period.

I'll recap my choices here:

1- Lolita.

2- Lord of the Rings.