Nabokov.

When I turned sixteen, my English teacher asked me what I got for my birthday. He was surprised that I hadn’t received a book, because I perpetually had one with me. He told me that I could pick any book from his bookshelf, that all of the books were something special to him: life lessons, epiphanies, childhood loves, heartbreaks, and goals for the future. He said,
“None of these books leave this room. Ever. Pick any book, read it, and tell me what you think.”
I chose Lolita, a novel by Vladimir Nabokov. It made me rage, cry, and question my judgement. How could I love the monster? How could I blame him? How couldn’t I?
Lolita changed my life. I give people more chances, I hate more passionately. When I told my teacher,
“He makes me sad.” the response I got was a smile and a laugh. He said,
“Good. You understand what books are for, now, don’t you?”
And I do.
-
am0r-phous likes this
-
tolonar likes this
-
thedragonprincess likes this
-
ishmaeldreaming likes this
-
paddygardiner likes this
-
smileofnine reblogged this from thebookstheygaveme
-
allaboutcontext reblogged this from thebookstheygaveme
-
outsideramongus likes this
-
tallkin likes this
-
elladrondelibros reblogged this from bookish-thoughts
-
miseryhunting likes this
-
stateofindifference likes this
-
15letters likes this
-
casa-de-llamas reblogged this from bookish-thoughts
-
bookish-thoughts reblogged this from thebookstheygaveme
-
theseanimals reblogged this from thebookstheygaveme
-
bronzecandy likes this
-
giomanach reblogged this from discoverynews
-
wildnessliesinwait likes this
-
ironykills likes this
-
shhhhhhimlisteningtoreason likes this
-
companioncube76 reblogged this from discoverynews
-
bimsk likes this
-
ao0oga reblogged this from thebookstheygaveme and added:
So true.
-
youreyesaregems reblogged this from thebookstheygaveme and added:
I am so, so jealous of this teacher story.
-
far-off--shots likes this
-
ardeliaveen likes this
-
jvdbooks reblogged this from thebookstheygaveme
-
isallweknow reblogged this from thebookstheygaveme
-
rrlovesenglish reblogged this from thebookstheygaveme and added:
Books change lives! They do, they do, they
-
bluerosesinthemoon reblogged this from discoverynews
-
rrukk likes this
-
wordupnerdup reblogged this from discoverynews
-
10thtardis reblogged this from discoverynews
-
10thtardis likes this
-
hanan109 likes this
-
brezinski likes this
-
gabriellalikes reblogged this from thebookstheygaveme
-
gabriellalikes likes this
-
diedrecook reblogged this from discoverynews
-
laurenbowers likes this
-
emturner likes this
-
notasecond2waste likes this
-
notasecond2waste reblogged this from thebookstheygaveme
-
partoftheocean likes this
-
eye8yourc00kies likes this
-
sanslittlebalcony reblogged this from thebookstheygaveme
-
cockismybusiness likes this
-
sleepanddream likes this
- Show more notes