Jeremy Irons Reads Lolita
The actor's take on the scandalous tale
Considered one of the most controversial works of 20th century literature, Vladimir Nabokov’s 1955 novel Lolita was banned in various countries due to its scandalous subject matter. The protagonist is Humbert Humbert, a middle-aged professor who develops an erotic fixation on 12-year-old Dolores Haze. Lolita is also known for having one of the most compelling and exquisitely-written opening passages in the history of literature. Listen to Academy Award-winning actor Jeremy Irons’ pitch-perfect recitation of it as you read the text below.
“Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Lee. Ta. She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock. She was Lola in slacks. She was Dolly at school. She was Dolores on the dotted line. But in my arms she was always Lolita. Did she have a precursor? She did, indeed she did. In point of fact, there might have been no Lolita at all had I not loved, one summer, an initial girl-child. In a princedom by the sea. Oh when? About as many years before Lolita was born as my age was that summer. You can always count on a murderer for a fancy prose style. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, exhibit number one is what the seraphs, the misinformed, simple, noble-winged seraphs, envied. Look at this tangle of thorns.”
