I recently read Lolita and was really conflicted as to whether I liked it or not. In one sense it was an uncomfortable read but I found I couldn’t put it down. I see a lot of people saying that they hate it because Humbert is such a monster but surely that’s the point? Nabokov makes it such an uncomfortable read through putting it in first person; we are meant to slightly sympathise with Humbert (because of his unreliable narration) and then feel disgusted with ourselves. Combined with the ‘American Dream’/Academia/Psychological Thriller aesthetic it’s almost as much a mockery of society and its romanticisation of crime as The Secret History. This is even proven by Lolita’s resurgence in popular aesthetics and romanticisation.
Lolita was way ahead of its time. Humbert is despicable, but he’s “charming” and literate and uses that to manipulate the reader to garner sympathy. The most horrible aspect is that that’s not fictional. To this day there is a tendency to blame the victim (victim blaming) and make excuses for the abuser. Lolita being a seductress is not an uncommon opinion.