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 think the bigger magic trick is when the reader finds themselves identifying with Humbert, laughing at his jokes or sympathizing, because it’s so jarring to see and *feel *the humanity in such a monstrous person. And this is the reason I think so many people viscerally dislike the book. They don’t want to relate to him, they hate that common thread of humanity and seeing how fine a line separates us.