Lolita

Read the book. Then read John Derbyshire's review, in which he is nostalgic for 1958 and uses rape statistics to justify his age preference in women. Then read Amanda Marcotte on Pandagon and see her disembowel Derbyshire, puree his intestines in a blender, and force him to drink it (as one commenter describes her savaging of his review).

 

Reading Lolita in Tehran is a good book; it is fascinating to see how women from Iranian culture react to this book.

 

The Stanley Kubrick movie version does not really feel much like the book, but it is interesting in its own right. Peter Sellers is great as Clare Quilty, and I think his appearances are the best scenes in the film. He is the exact right person to play that role. I think his recurring performances manage to capture some of the insanity that's there in the novel.

 

This subject has generated lots of commentary, and I don't have anything original to add. I just think it interesting that this book still provokes so much discussion. But then, Job was written 2,500 years ago or thereabouts and it still provokes a lot of discussion, too.