Guilty Pleasures

[Dark Jaguar]

Maybe my brain is dumb, but I thought this was the exchange:

Me: "Ew, he wants a lolita, what a scumbag"
You: "Obviously he wants a lolita, it's a pedo song, after all"

Guess I misread Incidentally, I tried reading Lolita earlier this year and just couldn't stomach it. Too creepy. The narrator specifically visits orphanages to ogle young "nymphets", and claims that Lolita seduced him. I know certain art should provoke and challenge our sensibilities, but I just didn't see anything redemptive about it in the 100 or so pages I read, aside from admittedly well-written prose.

That's the last time I take recommendations from lazyfatbum!

You didn't have to write a book report on it?  Lucky you.  Yes, the main character is utterly disgusting.  I believe the point of the book is to provide the point of view of a monster and how someone can still see themselves as good, but it really is hard to stomach, especially for those of us with certain histories.

The prose is often listed on top opinions of "best written prose of all time", so I guess there's that.  It's kind of like how "Birth of a Nation" (the original) is constantly cited as one of the most influential movies of all time in terms of cinematography, but the movie is still a pro-KKK racist propaganda movie.