I haven‘t read Lolita. This is supposed to be a precursor - an earlier pedophile story written in 1939 in France (as WWII kicked off) in perfect Russian prose and then lost. The rediscovered manuscript was translated in 1985. Its funny - first. The unnamed perv almost accidentally becomes decent, as fickle fate toys with his dark plans, and he dreads every piece of good news. It ends sick in several ways, but an entertaining story.