Lolita by Vladimir Nabokav

Twisted and beautiful: this is how I would sum up Nabokav's famously controversial novel, Lolita. Twisted, because the narrator is an older man who lusts after young girls, and beautiful, because Nabokav's prose is so elegant, so appealing, that one cannot help reading on in foolish fascination.

The novel follows the narrator, Humbert Humbert, on his road trips around the country with the young "nymphet" Dolores Haze, who he professes to be in love with. To the outside world, they are stepfather and stepdaughter, but behind closed doors, they are lovers, which makes for a curious and altogether disturbing relationship.

This novel is unlike anything I've ever read, really. It has the unique ability to appall and to amaze, to make you hang off of Humbert's every word even while you are doubting his very sanity and trustworthiness as a narrator. Read it. Love it. Lolita.