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Originally Posted by alansmithee
I think that's mainly because it's not required reading in many (if any) high school classes. A teacher would not only have to be pretty ballsy, but also have a very gifted class, to even think of assigning Lolita.
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Beyond that, Lolita is a well-respected piece of literature. Yes, its themes are adventurous, but there is no doubt that Nabakov is a brilliant writer who executes his ideas well and with a lyrical style that goes unmatched.
One of my lit profs has an anecdote he likes to tell about the "Top 50 Books of the 20th Century in American Literature." A distinguished panel of scholars, authors, and editors were asked to list their choices by a major publishing house. Their number one choice? Lolita. That, of course, would not fly. So they were sent back to the drawing board, and came up with The Grapes of Wrath by Steinbeck (let's think about that one for a second). Lolita dropped about six places down on the list.
I think that is perhaps what sets Lolita apart from other works on this list: not only is it something you wouldn't read in a high school classroom, it is well-respected, and also isn't exactly pop literature (despite its thematic content) like some of the others that made the list.
And boy, let me tell you...as an English major I've read more than my fair share of these banned books...
Time to find a new one to read.