Why I Hate Reading Lolita

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Recommended: An appreciation of Lolita

No book has ever disgusted me more than Lolita, and yet no book has ever engrossed me more deeply.
Lolita is about a man who rapes his step-daughter. It was written more than 50 years ago and it continues to be surrounded by controversy. When I learned that I had to read Lolita for English class, I was appalled. I didn’t think that anything positive about the book could outweigh the immorality of its subject. I thought that it never should have been written at all.
What challenged me most about Lolita was the fact that I didn’t hate reading it. In fact, I enjoyed it. I loved the rich imagery, unreliable narration, and wordplay. Most of all, I loved that it made me think. Before reading Lolita, I thought the immorality of Humbert Humbert’s

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