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.
I like it because it was like a Puzzle like a Mystery Book. You know that Humbert is a POS, now you have to reconstruct what actually happened from his unreliable narration. I found that fun.
What’s disturbing is when people call it a love story. I find people’s reactions to it more disturbing that the story itself which is after all a piece of fiction.