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I wanted to re-read Nabokov's Lolita after peaking just to see if anything new stood out, and this one sure did:
Humbert actually fantasizes early on in the book (apologies, I can't find the specific passage) about dressing up as another girl in order to join Dolores Haze while she was at summer camp. He imagines that he would camp out in the woods near the camp in school girl gear, and the girls would "notice him" and welcome him into their camp or something. yeesh.
My jaw dropped reading that passage. It just shows that this shit is not new in the slightest and LARPing as a woman or girl has always been a part of a predator's playbook. Just thought it was interesting.
I think Lolita is grooming material. It introduces Humbert as a monster, and by the end you're supposed to be "rooting for him." He's a "good pedophile," because while he kidnapped and raped Dolores, he "really loves" her which makes him better than the "bad pedophile" Quilty who doesn't love Dolores and forces her to make child porn and allows other people to rape her.
Nabokov uses juxtaposition to groom people into the idea that there is such a thing as a "good pedophile." It's something I've seen from real life pedophiles as well. They always claim the "real monster" is the pedo one step below them. But it's monsters the whole way down.
This is a simplistic take.
Lolita is narrated by Humbert Humbert. He is a villain and a monster. What monster ever views themself as the bad guy, though? If HH spent the whole of the book self-flagellating about his villainy, it wouldn't have been an accurate portrait of a pedophile. It never would have been a classic because it wouldn't have been believable--it would have read like fanfiction. If HH had the capacity for empathy , he wouldn't have raped Dolores in the first place. Of course HH spends the book justifying to others why he did what he did. That is flawed, narcissistic humanity, whitewashed with pretty words.
He doesn't recognize the humanity of Dolores, but you still catch glimpses of her suffering which HH glosses over.
Plus the whole book is Humbert Humbert justifying himself to a court. He's attempting to deceive people, and you're not supposed to take anything he says at face value. His words are constantly juxtaposed with his actions to show that he's lying. Sure, he's trying to portray himself as a "good paedo" and sometimes convince himself of the same, because it's a lie they try IRL. But his lack of empathy toward Dolores is obvious with every action. The way he glosses over things shows that he knows people would be outraged, like where he tries the old "she came on to me" lie, rushed to sound extra implausible. He ruins her life and then mopes about it. I think the second half of the book does try to portray his situation as a pathetic one, and tries to get into his head more, but I don't recall it ever sliding from that to defending him. I never got the impression Nabokov wanted his audience to come away thinking Humbert was a good guy.
That doesn't exactly negate what I said.