This book isn't a classic because it's an easy read, it's a classic because of the absolutely beautiful prose style, the significant social issues it raises, and the deftness with which Nabokov develops his characters. Boiling the issues down like that (and relying on the well-known and highly connotative but incorrect term "pedophilia") does nothing but create a vacuous and sensationalized straw-man. ![]() To simply call Humbert a pedophile is to discard all of the complexity that Nabokov deliberately inserts into the work. However, SHE was curious, HE lusted after her, they BOTH got what they wanted at the time. Humbert, as the adult, should have guided her toward a better understanding without taking advantage of her (i.e., allowed her to socialize with boys her own age). ![]() ![]() The difference is that when a youths are pubescent, they become outwardly curious about their own sexuality. Pedophilia is applied to PRE-pubescents.Įphebophilia is applied to PUBESCENTS, which is what Lolita was. ![]() Jacqueline wrote: Of course the narrator was a pedophile."
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