The Enchanter pt 1

I found it rather interesting at what lengths the narrator goes to obtain a relationship with the young girl. He first had to develop a relationship with the girl's mother and then ended up marrying her. He has to care for and live with the sick woman who comes off as miserable and irritating. She is overbearing when it comes to him but wants nothing to do with her daughter. He puts up with her for so long in the hopes of the day that she passes away, that he will be able to look after the young girl. And then begin his sexual relationship with her.

I thought Nabokov did a fabulous job developing the character's thought process for this whole scheme. At one point, he even thinks about poising his new wife so that the girl can come live with him quicker. At times it seems like his patience is running out and he can no longer tolerate the woman he is living with. When thinking about his wife he gets frustrated and says, "How simple it would be if dear Mummy were to die tomorrow. But no- she's in no hurry, she has sunk her teeth into life, and will hang on, and what do I stand to gain if she takes her time dying, and what arrives for her funeral will be a touch-me-not of sixteen or a stranger of twenty? How simple it would be.. if there were some poison handy..." (39). This character in The Enchanter is manipulative and even though what he is doing is grotesque and immoral you must admit that he is very clever. He sacrifices his somewhat normal life for this girl, in the way that he marries and devotes time to her mother. During the majority of the book he does not even know if the girl will end up living with him. I found the devotion of this character mesmerizing in a haunting way.

I know The Enchanter is much shorter than Lolita but I think what it lacks in comparison besides length, is the details or description of the man's tortured mind. I found myself feeling sympathetic towards the character Humbert Humbert even though I know what he is doing is awful and wrong. I did not get that same type of feeling when reading The Enchanter. It may be because it is a shorter read, so Nabokov did not go into as much detail about the man's nature as in Lolita. With saying that, I do not mean that I disliked this book instead, I actually found it a very quick and absorbing read. And I am starting to like Nabokov more and more.