Thursday, June 3, 2010

lolita...

so to kick off my summer reading list, i decided to re-read lolita. i can't believe that he wrote this in english first(russian being his first language). nabakov is the real deal. every sentence is so purely, poetically crafted. okey dokey, so the movie. while the stanley kubrick adaptation is the ultimate classic, i really have always loved adrian lyne's provocative, updated interpretation.

behold, the visual delight that is rocking my summer reading...

annabelle


a glimpse of humbert humbert's first love, annabel. she is so stunning.

lolita mood
oh to be a young girl.

mother haze
i kind of love melanie griffith. she is a way saucier mother haze than shelly winters.

lolita 1
lo. lolita. dolly. dolores. i love the scene where she eats the raspberries by the glow of the fridge.

lolita 3
dominique swain is totally giving me claire danes in the first picture, right?

lolita 4
all the food lolita eats is so dang tempting. milkshakes, raspberries, popsicles, bubblegum, bananas. straight up fashion food editorial goodness.

lolita 5
i want heidi braids and red lipstick. if only middriff tops looked appropriate on girls over the age of 8.

lolita 2
well, i had to include some shots of the, umm... romance. it's kind of a major part of the story. however creepy and inappropriate it may be.

****oh, and as a side note, i just found out nabokov was a lepidopterist. the man collected butterflies. awesome.
****and the only thing missing from this film is the 1960s red heart-shaped glasses.

14 comments:

Krista said...

My grandfather was a lepidopterist. I just inherited a collection of 50 year old butterflies and I'm trying to figure out how to display them!

Amelia said...

i love the book so very much, i revisit it every summer even if it's hardly standard beach reading material. I, rather embarrasinly, haven't seen any of the film adapations but this was just what i need to spring me into film watching action!
lovely choices of film screen shots as well.

love from amelia of la ville inconnue

Jay said...

Nabokov is probably my favorite writer, and what can I say about "Lolita" except that it is one of the most beautifully written books of all time? Definitely creepy, definitely tragic, definitely a masterpiece.

You definitely need to read "Speak, Memory," his memoir about his childhood, next. He had the most incredible upbringing, and he talks a lot about his passion for butterflies, too. An amazing amazing man.

Susi said...

I'm hopelessly in love with this movie! It's so poetic and dreamy. I could watch it over and over.
Even though the Kubrick version is so different from this one and really good in it's own classical way, I do like Lyne's adaptaion better.
The colours are truly amazing.
Thank you for posting these pictures, I feel like rewatching and rereading "Lolita" right away.
Have a fantastic weekend...I love your blog!!!

Chloe said...

I loved the book and both movie versions. One of the most beautifully crafted, poetic, and disturbing tragedies ever written.

Anonymous said...

Russian actually was not Nabokov's first language. Like most noble Russians of the Tsarist era, his first languages were French and English. Many upper-class Russians never learned to speak Russian at all, as it was considered a peasant language.

"hi, i'm ginnybranch stelling and i love love." said...

anonymous! thanks for that fact, how interesting! i love fun facts!

Emily said...

Little known fact- English was actually Nabokov's first language, he grew up in a fairly wealthy Russian family who had the privilege of having English tutors around all the time. Although of course Russian would qualify for the title of his native language- I'm sad I'll never be able to read Nabokov in his full glory.

If you enjoyed Lolita, you should read another book of his: Speak, Memory. it's just amazing.

moonshinejunkyard said...

ooooh, lolita is locked in my heart forever. i love the book and your choices of stills from the movie are devastatingly lovely. mmmmm, i am so in the mood for midriffs, popsicles, lakeside lollygagging, tennis, road trips, and sexy older men to flirt with. um, but appropriately i swear!

Clare & Laura said...

lolita is my favourite book also, when i read it i was in awe, and then i read this essay at the back explaining his intentions not to shock but simply to explore the english language which made me love it even more. and i kind of fell in love with jeremy irons in stealing beauty then this made me love HIM even more!

ginny i have a HUGE favour to ask. I'm a huge follower of your blog and have this niggling feeling i've seen a certain post here, but have just spet at least an hour trawling through old posts and cannot find it! i seem to remember a post about 'wish baloons' where people write/make a wish then release balloons and it was for some fantastic cause?

i have an event planning business all the way over in the UK and want to show this idea to a kid's charity I am working with! if there's any chance you know what i'm rambling about and could help me out i will send you millions of virtual kisses in return! Thanks! XXXXX

Marinka said...

I love it its so inspiring

ToKataifi said...

i so loved that movie...

Susan Brinson said...

One of my all time favorite movies. I love the music and the opening scene where he is driving in the car.

Victoria / Justice Pirate said...

oh my it seems much different than the original film, in which is the only version I've seen. I don't think I'd want to watch this one. I guess I didn't realize how sexual it really was haha.

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