100,000+ Books, Games & Puzzles in-stock 🇳🇿

Fast Overnight NZ-wide Delivery 🚀

Lolita

By Vladimir Nabokov
0.0 (0 reviews)
3.87 goodreads logo

Ratings/reviews counts are updated frequently.

Check link for latest rating. ( 925,913 ratings, 48,421 reviews)
Book Hero Magic crafted this summary to help describe this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Summary
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov is a controversial and intricate novel exploring the obsessive infatuation of Humbert Humbert, a middle-aged literature professor, with a twelve-year-old girl named Dolores Haze, whom he nicknames Lolita. Framing his fixation as a deep, consuming love, Humbert's narrative unfolds with both dark humour and unsettling intensity, as he recounts his attempts to possess and control Lolita's life. The book challenges readers with its complex themes and rich prose.
Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$2200
Elsewhere:
$2400
Buy to Win
Purchase this title for your chance to win a Penguin Classics Prize Pack!
OVERNIGHT NZ-WIDE DELIVERY

Found a better price? Request a price match

Book Hero Magic created this recommendation. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! IS THIS YOUR NEXT READ?

This book may appeal to you if you appreciate challenging narratives with intricate prose, exploring deeply complex characters and themes. It offers a provocative and controversial storyline that captivates through its unique narrative style and literary brilliance.

Book Hero thinking about your next read

Humbert Humbert is a middle-aged, fastidious college professor. He also likes little girls. And none more so than Lolita, who he'll do anything to possess. Is he in love or insane? A silver-tongued poet or a pervert? A tortured soul or a monster?! Or is he all of these?

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Humbert Humbert is a middle-aged, fastidious college professor. He also likes little girls. And none more so than Lolita, who he'll do anything to possess. Is he in love or insane? A silver-tongued poet or a pervert? A tortured soul or a monster? ...Or is he all of these?

Lolita invites readers to delve into these troubling questions, masterfully weaving a tale of passion and obsession. Vladimir Nabokov's provocative and controversial novel challenges the boundaries of love, morality, and perception, leaving its audience questioning the very essence of obsession and innocence.

Book Hero Magic summarised reviews for this book. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! HOW HAS THIS BEEN REVIEWED?

Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov is often hailed for its intricate prose and provocative subject matter. Many reviewers praise Nabokov's masterful use of language and the book’s ability to provoke thought on complex themes of obsession and morality. Some readers, however, find the book's controversial themes challenging to navigate. Overall, it is regarded as a compelling and controversial masterpiece.

Book Hero reading reviews

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780141023496

Publisher: Penguin Books Ltd

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 26 January 2006

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: Penguin Classics

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 28.0mm

Width: 112.0mm

Height: 181.0mm

Weight: 252g

Pages: 368

Collections

Best Sellers at Book Hero Classic Fiction Classic General Fiction Fiction General Fiction In Stock Books In-Stock Fiction Books Literary Fiction New Release Fiction Penguin Books Penguin Classics Vladimir Nabokov

About the Author

Vladimir Nabokov (1899-1977) Russian-born American novelist, critic, and acknowledged lepidopterist. Nabokov wrote both in Russian and English. His best-known novel, LOLITA (1955), shocked many people but its humor and literary style were praised by critics.

Also by Vladimir Nabokov

View all
  • Lolita
    Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov is a profoundly provocative and masterfully written novel that explores themes of obsession, passion, and moral ambiguity. The narrative follows Humbert Humbert, a sophisticated and erudite European émigré, who becomes infatuated with his twelve-year-old stepdaughter, Dolores Haze, whom he affectionately nicknames "Lolita." Their illicit and tumultuous relationship drives Humbert into a labyrinth of deception, manipulation, and...
    By Vladimir Nabokov
    Paperback
    $1500
    Elsewhere:
    $1599
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Buy to Win
    On Sale
    19% off
    Pale Fire
    Pale Fire is a novel constructed around the last great poem of a fictional American poet, John Shade, and an account of his death. The poem appears in full, and the narrative develops through the lengthy, and increasingly eccentric, notes by his posthumous editor.
    By Vladimir Nabokov
    Paperback
    $2100
    Usually:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Buy to Win
    Lolita
    Vladimir Nabokov's shocking masterpiece, now in a beautifully designed clothbound edition. Poet and pervert, Humbert Humbert becomes obsessed by twelve-year-old Lolita and seeks to possess her, first carnally and then artistically, out of love, 'to fix once for all the perilous magic of nymphets'. Is he in love or insane? A silver-tongued poet or a pervert? A tortured soul or...
    By Vladimir Nabokov
    Hardback
    $3600
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Buy to Win
    Pnin
    Professor Timofey Pnin, late of Tsarist Russia, is now precariously perched on a college campus in the fast beating heart of the USA. In a series of funny and sad misunderstandings, Pnin does halting battle with American life and language.
    By Vladimir Nabokov
    Paperback
    $2600
    Backorder
    Ships early September
  • Buy to Win
    Collected Stories
    A man at his desk is interrupted by the appearance of a woodland elf in his room; the piano maestro Bachmann ends his career; a barber shaves the face of a man who once tortured him; a shy dreamer makes a deal with the Devil. In these sixty-five stories of magic and melancholy, Nabokov displays an astonishing range of inventiveness,...
    By Vladimir Nabokov
    Paperback
    $3600
    Elsewhere:
    $4000
    Backorder
    Ships early September
  • Lolita
    One of the best-known novels of the 20th century, Lolita tells the controversial story of Humbert Humbert who falls in love with twelve-year-old Lolita. Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta- the tip of my tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo....
    By Vladimir Nabokov
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Buy to Win
    Nabokov's Dozen
    Thirteen strangely wrought stories make up Nabokov's Dozen. In some of these stories, shadowy people pass through, cooped up by life, mangled by it, with nowhere to escape to. Their dreams lie stifled, smothered by routine and repetition, and frustrations lurk in all the corners. In others, there are elusive glimpses of fleeting happiness, which flutter away before they can...
    By Vladimir Nabokov
    Paperback
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Buy to Win
    Despair
    This dark satire follows the egotistical Hermann Hermann, a murderer who thinks himself an artist. Self-satisfied, delighting in the many fascinating quirks of his own personality, Hermann is perhaps not to be taken too seriously. But then a chance meeting with a man he believes to be his double reveals a frightening 'split' in Hermann's nature. With shattering immediacy, Nabokov...
    By Vladimir Nabokov
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    Backorder
    Ships early September
  • Buy to Win
    Collected Poems
    A landmark collection of verse from one of the twentieth century's supreme writers. These masterly poems span the decades of Nabokov's career, from Music, written in 1914, to the short, playful To Vera, composed in 1974. The University Poem, one of Nabokov's major poetic works, is here in English for the first time. This extraordinary autobiographical poem looks back at...
    By Vladimir Nabokov
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Buy to Win
    Ada or Ardor
    Nabokov's other great love story, following an extraordinary relationship across decades and continents. Written in mischievous and magically flowing prose, Ada or Ardor is a romance that follows Ada from her first childhood meeting with Van Veen on his uncle's country estate, in a 'dream-bright' America, through eighty years of rapture, as they cross continents, are continually parted and reunited....
    By Vladimir Nabokov
    Paperback
    $2700
    Elsewhere:
    $3000
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Buy to Win
    The Defense
    The Defense is Vladimir Nabokov's early novel about a chess-playing genius, reissued in Modern Classics as part of the Nabokov relaunch. This dazzling story features the coarse, strange yet oddly endearing chess-playing genius Luzhin. Discovering his prodigious gift in boyhood and rising to the rank of International Grandmaster, Luzhin develops a lyrical passion for chess that renders the real world...
    By Vladimir Nabokov
    Paperback
    $2800
    Available
    Ships in 4-6 weeks
  • Buy to Win
    Nabokov's Dozen
    Introducing Little Clothbound Classics — irresistible, mini editions of short stories, novellas, and essays from the world's greatest writers, designed by the award-winning Coralie Bickford-Smith. Thirteen ingeniously crafted stories make up Vladimir Nabokov's baker's dozen. In some of these stories, shadowy people pass through, cooped up by life, with nowhere to escape. In others, elusive glimpses of fleeting happiness, which...
    By Vladimir Nabokov
    Hardback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships today

More from General Fiction

View all
  • The Wedding People
    'BEST READ OF THE YEAR SO FAR' THE TIMES 'BOOKS AS FUN AS THIS ONE ARE FEW AND FAR BETWEEN' GUARDIAN Phoebe Stone arrives at a grand beachside hotel in Rhode Island wearing her best dress and least comfortable shoes. Immediately she is mistaken for one of the wedding people — but she's actually the only guest at the Cornwall...
    By Alison Espach
    Paperback
    $2399
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    (3)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Buy to Win
    Dungeon Crawler Carl
    The apocalypse will be televised! Welcome to the first book in the wildly popular and addictive Dungeon Crawler Carl series by Matt Dinniman-now with bonus material exclusive to the print edition! You know what's worse than breaking up with your girlfriend? Being stuck with her prize-winning show cat. And you know what's worse than that? An alien invasion, the destruction...
    By Matt Dinniman
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Pre-order
    Big Little Truths
    Parenting teens is not for the faint of heart but Madeline, Jane and Celeste have been through worse. It's been a decade since the school trivia night that changed their lives forever and now they're living blissfully ordinary suburban lives. But when an anonymous grisly package arrives at the local high school, and a man in a green Volvo is...
    By Liane Moriarty
    Paperback
    $3199
    Elsewhere:
    $3799
    Pre-order
    Out 25 Aug 2026
  • On Sale
    17% off
    Dylan's Pick Dylan's Pick
    Theo of Golden
    THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLING PHENOMENON'For anything to be truly good, there must be love in it. Nothing is what it's supposed to be if love is not at the core.' One morning, a stranger arrives in the town of Golden. No one knows who he is or where he came from…His name is Theo and he's arrived there by chance –...
    By Allen Levi
    Paperback
    $2400
    Elsewhere:
    $3499
    (6)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Throne of Glass Box Set (Paperback)
    Enter the realm. Unleash the darkness. Live the legend. Discover the worldwide phenomenon of the #1 New York Times-bestselling Throne of Glass series in this gorgeous 8-book box set! In a land without magic, an assassin is summoned to the castle. She has no love for the vicious king who rules from his throne of glass, but she has not...
    By Sarah J. Maas
    Set
    $12400
    Elsewhere:
    $15500
    (6)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    The Ballad of Falling Dragons [Special Deluxe edition]
    The No.1 Sunday Times bestselling sensation When the Moon Hatched continues with the second book in The Moonfall Series, The Ballad of Falling Dragons… Raeve’s thirst for vengeance continues to burn, as does her love for Kaan Vaegor – a staunch beacon from a past she’s yet to face. With Rekk’s blood still fresh on her hands, she learns the...
    By Sarah A. Parker
    Hardback
    $5999
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Goal
    Welcome to Briar U!Get ready for your newest obsession . . . Discover the addictive world of the Off-Campus series from The Queen of Hockey Romance, Elle Kennedy!Read The Goal now for the perfect forced proximity romance! She's good at achieving her goals . . . College senior Sabrina James has her whole future planned out: graduate from college, kick...
    By Elle Kennedy
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2799
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Buy to Win
    On Sale
    17% off
    Project Hail Mary
    Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir, the SUNDAY TIMES and NEW YORK TIMES bestselling author of The Martian, offers a gripping new adventure in hard science fiction. With endorsement from notable figures such as Barack Obama and a slew of five-star reviews, this novel promises a thrilling and intellectually stimulating journey. Ryland Grace, a lone astronaut, finds himself on a...
    By Andy Weir
    Paperback
    $2000
    Elsewhere:
    $2400
    (5)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Buy to Win
    Carl's Doomsday Scenario
    Join Carl and his ex-girlfriend's cat Princess Donut as they fight fantastical creatures and deadly mobs in the second book in the smash-hit Dungeon Crawler Carl series -now with bonus material exclusive to the print edition Now on the third floor, Carl and Donut have to fight harder than ever. They've already proven that a Coast Guard vet and once-and-forever...
    By Matt Dinniman
    Hardback
    $4699
    Elsewhere:
    $6000
    (1)
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • Buy to Win
    East of Eden
    Set against the backdrop of the fertile Salinas Valley in California, East of Eden is a profound and compelling novel by John Steinbeck, one of the greatest writers of the 20th century. This masterful narrative charts the intertwining destinies of two families—the Trasks and the Hamiltons—across multiple generations. Steinbeck's intricate portrayal of human nature and enduring exploration of moral themes...
    By John Steinbeck
    Paperback
    $2499
    Elsewhere:
    $2600
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • New Release
    On Mystic Lake
    One of the greatest storytellers of our time - Delia Owens, author of Where the Crawdads Sing Annie Colwater's only child has just left home for school in England. On that same day, her husband of twenty years confesses that he's in love with a younger woman. Left alone in the beautiful California house which was once a home, Annie...
    By Kristin Hannah
    Paperback
    $3100
    Elsewhere:
    $3800
    In Stock
    Ships today
  • The Hobbit & The Lord of the Rings Boxed Set
    Embark on a journey through Middle-earth with J.R.R. Tolkien's timeless masterpieces, The Hobbit and The Lord of the Rings. These enthralling tales recount the adventures of Bilbo Baggins, a modest hobbit whose life is turned upside down when he unwittingly becomes entwined in a perilous quest involving dragons, wizards, and the fate of the world. Alongside iconic characters such as...
    By J. R. R. Tolkien
    Box Set
    $7199
    Elsewhere:
    $8999
    In Stock
    Ships today

Why buy from us?

Book Hero is not a chain store or big box retailer. We're an independent 100% NZ-owned business on a mission to help more Kiwis rediscover a love of books and reading!

Service & Delivery

Service & Delivery

Our warehouse in Auckland holds over 100,000 books, toys, board games and puzzles in-stock so you're not waiting for your order to arrive from overseas.

Auckland Bookstore

Auckland Bookstore

We're primarily an online store, but for your convenience you can pick up your order for free from our bookstore, which is right next door to our warehouse in Hobsonville.

Our Gifting Service

Our Gifting Service

Books make wonderful thoughtful gifts and we're here to help with gift-wrapping and cards. We can even send your gift directly to your loved one.

General Fiction lists from the team

Explore our curated lists from our heroes to find your next read!

The Latest at Book Hero

View all