I have met many book-lovers over the years. Several of them, upon learning of my passion about books, have recommended that I read Lolita. I knew the premise of the book and refused to read it out of principle. "But it's literature, it's Nabokov." I heard so many arguments, but I still refused to read it.

A few weeks ago, my bookclub met and we were told that the Mark Twain book we'd picked for April was dreadful and decided to switch it. I recommended we read Lolita. None of us were too thrilled about the prospect but we all felt that it was a book we had to read before we died. And now that were were in our 30s, and "mature," we might as well get to it. Semi-reluctantly, we all agreed to pick it as our April book.

Knowing it would be a form of torture, I bought and started the book immediately. The text was much less dense than I had imagined and the story moved relatively quickly. There were some interesting bits here and there and the writing was quite impeccable. But that's it.

I wish I could say all those people were right and I was wrong. I wish I could say I totally changed my mind on it and it was phenomenal. The truth is, I could never get past the child- molestation. I could never get past what a disgusting (and I find that to be the very perfect fit adjective in this case) man he was. There was no second in which I could relate to him or empathize. Thank God I don't have a daughter, I might have hated it even more. There was no room for my pity in the character. No explanation why he might have become such a despicable person. Nothing that spoke to me in a way that allowed me to enjoy the book, the story and the people.

I ask you, if you're one of those "Lolita is amazing" people: please tell me what I missed? Why is this book such a must-read?