Is it still taboo to read Lolita?

Question

Back 50 years ago, Lolita was a taboo novel, but is it still as shocking today?
Are relationships where there is a large age-gap as forbidden?

Answer 1

"Lolita," by Vladimir Nabakov, has been a taboo read since it was published in the 1950s. While the subject matter is something that adults and mature teenagers could probably handle, many people scoff at the book as a trashy read rather than the classic, gently erotic novel it is.

The issues regarding the relationship between the narrator and Dolores Haze, his object of obsession, are not limited to the age gap, which was admittedly several decades, but that the book is rife with pedophilia, near-incest, and manipulation.

And if anything, large age-gaps are more taboo now than they have historically been.

Answer 2

The issue with Lolita isn't that there is a large age-gap between the characters, so much as the girl is 12 in the novel, and the man, who's in his late thirties (not an "old" man as some people claim) is her stepfather. So it's a book that has a lot to do with the sexual abuse of the child. Although Lolita appears to be a willing participant in the sex, and probably thinks of herself as willing enough, both characters come to realize that it's wrong and there is a very tragic ending.

Lolita was never a banned book because of the age *gap.* It was because of the age of the girl. Considering that fact, I'd say it's still as shocking today - and I'm glad. I'm not sure I want to live in a world where nobody is shocked by a stepfather abducting and repeatedly raping his 12-year-old daughter.

It is a wonderful book, though, very beautifully written with a strong moral message - although you have to go through the main character, Humbert, being extremely immoral and very self-serving until you get to his change of heart. In my opinion, it's the best book ever written - or at least out of all the books I've read so far. It's a very powerful story, and it is written so beautifully that it will give you chills one moment and make you laugh the next, and by the end of it you'll feel sympathy for a character that you know you should hate. All testaments to Vladimir Nabokov's incredible talent.

Also I'd just like to add as an aside that while a lot of people class this novel as "satire" thanks to its many moments of very subtle and well-written "comic relief," I think that is a gross misunderstanding of the book. It's a tragedy and I think if it's approached with the expectation of pure satire with no other theme, the reader will sell herself short on picking up all parts of the very complex theme. It contains elements of satire, but satire is not the main thrust of the work. The fact that satire and tragedy could be blended together so seamlessly is yet another credit to Nabokov's skill as a writer.

I think everybody should read this book. It will give you a better appreciation for the power of language.

Answer 3

I didn't read Lolita till I was almost 40 and found it non-erotic, but a very good satire on modern American society. I think most people who would think it taboo have never read it.

The forbidden subject matter wasn't that there was an age gap, but that she was legally under the age of consent.

Answer 4

No.
You are quite right that it was attacked when it was first published, mainly by ignorant people who had not read it but it is one of the most moral stories you will ever read.
Although it is a story about the relationship between a mature man and a twelve year old girl you must remember that in some states in those days it was legal and normal for girls as young as thirteen to get married.
The main theme is of the obsessive love by the man of this girl who betrays him and the sad ending for both of them
The quality of the writing and the plot are the best you will encounter in 20th century literature.

Answer 5

No,I don't think Lolita is considered a taboo novel anymore.

Answer 6

Things are only taboo if you give them that power! But it sounds you have already lent Lolita that term

Answer 7

There are not any show scenes, however the venture of pedophilia must be annoying. (rather, i think of a sixteen twelve months old ought to locate the e book uninteresting recently with the aid of fact that's concerning to the decline of a center-elderly guy whose viewpoint must be too complicated for a new child to understand) i think of you need to study the e book alongside with him so which you would be able to talk it if he has concerns.

Answer 8

It is a personal choice. If you want to read it, then read it. Times are a changing.

Answer 9

YES,FOR OLDER GENERATION