Lolita
- by Nabokov
This controversial work requires consideration beyond the appalling moral construct of the narrator. Nabokov was interested in exploring how art might rise above moral codes to be a thing of beauty in a soiled and unredeemable world. Jane Smiley argues that “Nabokov is asserting his artistic freedom from the political and moral traditions of the novel…” and exploring highly modernist ideas: “The pleasure and the redemption in the face of human nature is to use the artistic materials at hand to create a beautiful and interesting pattern, preferably one that is as intricate and convoluted as possible, full of internal and external references, wordplay, and complexities that enhance the game aspect of the work of art.” We would need to consider if the aesthetics of the work transcends the characters and the world they evoke.