#480 - The Media Mess / Gaetz Pulls Out (w/ Ben Smith)

The novel, presented as the posthumously published memoirs of Humbert Humbert, explores themes of obsession, pedophilia, and the manipulation of reality. Humbert, a European intellectual and pedophile, becomes infatuated with Dolores Haze, whom he kidnaps and sexually abuses after marrying her mother. The narrative delves into the complex and disturbing relationship between Humbert and Lolita, highlighting issues of morality, solipsism, and the erasure of Lolita's independent identity. The book is known for its eloquent but deceptive narrator and its exploration of delusion, coercion, and cruelty.

The Orchard Keeper is Cormac McCarthy's debut novel, published in 1965. The story is set in rural Tennessee during the early 1930s and revolves around three main characters: Marion Sylder, a bootlegger; Uncle Ather Ownby, an old hermit living in a decaying apple orchard; and John Wesley Rattner, a young boy whose father was killed by Sylder in self-defense. The novel explores themes of cyclical violence, the encroachment of modernity, and the complex relationships between these characters, who are unaware of the connections between them. The narrative is characterized by McCarthy's vivid descriptions of the natural world and his exploration of human nature, morality, and the impact of societal changes on individual lives[1][3][5].