"Lolita is a 1955 novel written by Russian-American novelist Vladimir Nabokov that addresses the controversial subject of hebephilia. The protagonist is a French literature professor who moves to New England and writes under the pseudonym Humbert Humbert. He describes his obsession with a 12-year-old 'nymphet', Dolores Haze, whom he kidnaps and sexually abuses after becoming her stepfather. Privately, he calls her 'Lolita', the Spanish nickname for Dolores. The novel was originally written in English, but fear of censorship in the U.S. (where Nabokov lived) and Britain led to it being first published in Paris, France, in 1955 by Olympia Press. The book has received critical acclaim regardless of the controversy it caused with the public. It has been included in many lists of best books, such as Time's List of the 100 Best Novels, Le Monde's 100 Books of the Century, Bokklubben World Library, Modern Library's 100 Best Novels, and The Big Read. The novel has been twice adapted into film: first in 1962 by Stanley Kubrick, and later in 1997 by Adrian Lyne. ... The same description of the novel is found in Desmond Morris's reference work The Book of Ages. A survey of books for Women's Studies courses describes it as a 'tongue-in-cheek erotic novel'. Books focused on the history of erotic literature such as Michael Perkins' The Secret Record: Modern Erotic Literature also so classify Lolita. More cautious classifications have included a 'novel with erotic motifs' or one of 'a number of works of classical erotic literature and art, and to novels that contain elements of eroticism, such as Ulysses and Lady Chatterley's Lover.' This classification has been disputed. Malcolm Bradbury writes 'at first famous as an erotic novel, Lolita soon won its way as a literary one—a late modernist distillation of the whole crucial mythology.' Samuel Schuman says that Nabokov 'is a surrealist, linked to Gogol, Dostoevsky, and Kafka. Lolita is characterized by irony and sarcasm; it is not an erotic novel.' ... The novel is narrated by Humbert, who riddles the narrative with word play and his wry observations of American culture. The novel's flamboyant style is characterized by double entendres, multilingual puns, anagrams, and coinagessuch as nymphet, a word that has since had a life of its own and can be found in most dictionaries, and the lesser-used 'faunlet'. ... Nabokov, who famously decried social satire, novels with direct political messages, and those he considered 'moralists', avoided providing any overt interpretations to his work. ..."
W - Lolita
W - Lolita (1962 film)
FAR OUT - 'Lolita': what is the real meaning behind Vladimir Nabokov and Stanley Kubrick's controversial tale? (Video)
NY Times: How 'Lolita' Escaped Obscenity Laws and Cancel Culture
Stanley Kubrick's "Lolita" – a Most Ambitious Fantasy
YouTube: Lolita Film Premiere (1962), Lolita (1962): The Special Relationship
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