Book as “informative” as Nabokov’s “Lolita” or Elif Batuman’s “The Idiot”

I know y'all are wondering the similarities of the books share, but having read these two books recently, I noticed that they are so informative–informative in a sense that I learned about Russian Literature, Turkey and Serbia, Harvard University, etc., from Batuman's novel; while I learned so much about unheard of stuff, which I can't name now, from Nabokov's.

All books are informative, of course, but the aforementioned books informed me on many, many things that seems exclusive to people in the know. Think of the infamous Chapter 11 from Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray." Or excessive mention of films, books, and New York-stuff in Ottessa Moshfegh's "Year of Rest and Relaxation." Basically, contemporary culture stuff.