One of the finest English professors I've ever had explained to my class that writing creatively means creating sensations through expression. In her own words, "if you try to describe a homeless person on the streets of New York, I want to be able to smell him." It may sound a bit theatrical, but that is because very few writers are capable of producing such an effect on the reader. Only a master can elevate language to the point of transcending mere communication or even eloquent description. In Nabokov's Lolita, he succeeds in establishing himself not only as a 'writer in exile', but as one of the finest American authors of this century.
More than anything, I believe Lolita shows that the content of a novel-- and in this case, I found the topic very disturbing-- has little to do with the craft of writing. Nabokov chose an "untouchable" subject matter, one that conventionally is viewed with disgust. To many, pedophilia is seen as a more repulsive crime even than murder. The storyline has all the elements of a twisted, dark, and sordid tale even by today's standards, yet was hailed as a masterwork, which it is. Reading Lolita was a profoundly moving experience, but not because the story or the characters are inspiring or pretty. Rather, the quality of the writing and the boldness of the narrator in revealing his life's deepest secrets transforms the book into a journey. If the reader commits to the book, he commits to entering a life, a forbidden world that Nabokov bravely created.