In Its Purest Form

In Its Purest Form Claire Messud reads “Lolita” on its 70th anniversary, in an essay from the LARB Quarterly, issue no. 44, “Pressure.” By Claire Messud April 2, 2025 LARB Lit Fiction This essay is a preview of the LARB Quarterly, no. 44: Pressure. Become a member for more fiction, essays, criticism, poetry, and art from this issue—plus the next four issues of the Quarterly in print. ¤ PROBLEMATIC IS A WORD currently deployed rather in the way, in Victorian times, cloths were draped over naked statues. When we designate a person, or an event, or a text problematic, we simultaneously indicate its impropriety and choose, politely, to gloss over the details. Signifying disapproval, the word, in its delicate obfuscation, relieves us of the need to specify exactly what disturbs us. As it deflects, it reflects our incuriosity, and the presumed incuriosity of our interlocutors: you need not pay attention, we suggest, because problematic is all you need to know. At 70, Vladimir Naboko ... Read full article.