Sarah Weinman's superb book called "The Real Lolita" has just made conversations about the novel even more complicated. And for those of us who admire Nabokov's dazzling literary gifts, any celebration of the novel's artistry also must acknowledge the corruption that artistry brings to life. If you want to ignite discussion in an American high school or college classroom these days, try assigning "Lolita." In this age of trigger warnings and the #MeToo movement, it's hard for students to get past those first lines and the moral questions they raise. He's also a middle-aged sexual predator fantasizing about defiling the 12-year-old Dolores Hayes, aka Lolita. Humbert of course is not only the most charmingly unreliable narrator ever to slither his way through the pages of a novel. Lolita, the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap at three on the teeth - Lolita. (Reading) Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins, my sin, my soul. Here's Nabokov's narrator, Humbert Humbert, speaking in Paragraph 1 about the object of his desire. But Vladimir Nabokov's 1955 masterpiece "Lolita" has no problem making that claim stick. MAUREEN CORRIGAN, BYLINE: Few novels can claim to offend readers in their very first lines. Our book critic Maureen Corrigan recommends a new book called "The Real Lolita" that sheds light on the novel's disturbing influences. Vladimir Nabokov's novel "Lolita" is a staple of the American Library Association's Banned or Challenged Books (ph) list.
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