As opposed to monstrous Ulysses, I think Lolita may be the best book I've ever read. Nabokov gives Joyce a run for his money in language, though he's a little more restrained (in Lolita at least), and Lolita doesn't sprawl - it seduces. It's monstrous too because of that. Humbert is disgusting and grotesque ... and charming. I think that's the magic of Lolita: he takes something grotesque and makes it irresistibly beautiful, then leaves it to you and your conflicted feelings to sort out what's what.