Lolita

A forty-year-old writer and rentier, having moved from Paris to America, falls in love with a twelve-year-old provincial schoolgirl, the desire to possess whom becomes his destructive obsession. Bringing Vladimir Nabokov (1899-1977) worldwide fame, technically one of his most perfected books — bold, profound, witty, piercing, and alive, «Lolita» (1955) invariably divides readers into two categories: admirers of bright art and everyone else.
In the mid-60s, Nabokov created a Russian version of his favorite book, adding various supplements and clarifications. The Russian edition was published in New York in 1967. Despite a ban that lasted until 1989, «Lolita» gained wide distribution in the USSR and had a significant influence on all subsequent Russian literature.