(Free. Found in a library box in our neighborhood.) Another of the 100 books I'm supposed to read before I die according to the BBC. Vladimir Nabokov's erotic classic is exquisitely written, but I still felt dirty after reading it. I picked it up back in October and got bored in the middle after Humbert and Lolita started their cross-country travels following the death of Lo's mom. I didn't see what else could happen after that. I found all the satiric descriptions of American motels, tourist traps, and lodges repetitive. But then I picked it up back up again in January and really enjoyed the resolution. The characterization of Clair Quilty is very funny. Ultimately, the book is both a comedy and tragedy. Humbert is a buffoonish character, possessed by his own pedophilic obsessions. The tragedy is that he robs Lolita of her childhood for all her sexual precocity. She goes from mistress to drab housewife and is never allowed to be a girl.
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