stinky answers “is this apprpriate for a 16 year old to read?”

Annabelle asked this question about Lolita:

is this apprpriate for a 16 year old to read?

stinky I'm seventeen, and I just read this book after some deliberation because I wasn't sure if I was mature or prepared enough to read and understand the b…moreI'm seventeen, and I just read this book after some deliberation because I wasn't sure if I was mature or prepared enough to read and understand the book and its potent themes.
After reading Lolita, I believe that there shouldn't be a set age to read this book, but a certain level of maturity is required. There are some who will not be prepared to read this book at 40, and others who will be ready to read it at 16. It all depends on maturity.
I believe it is absolutely essential to have a healthy view of familial and romantic love before reading this book. This is because the idea of 'love' is grappled with throughout the course of the story, unfortunately in a grotesquely distorted form.
I have been fortunate enough to grow up in a home where open discussion is encouraged, and I have also learned things through experience (mine or secondhand) that have allowed me to comprehend this book and read it, not as a tragic love story, but a story of a man who kidnaps a young girl and abuses her physically, sexually, and emotionally over the course of five years.
Above all, I encourage caution. Please do not go into this story unprepared, because from the very first line the book is bared in its atrocities.
I hope this helps.(less)

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