[HN Gopher] When Jawaharlal Nehru Read 'Lolita' ___________________________________________________________________ When Jawaharlal Nehru Read 'Lolita' Author : lermontov Score : 49 points Date : 2022-06-07 18:32 UTC (1 days ago) (HTM) web link (scroll.in) (TXT) w3m dump (scroll.in) | sharkjacobs wrote: | > The book is certainly not pornographic in the normal sense of | the word. It is, as I have said, a serious book, seriously | written. | | > In this note, Nehru also pointed out that he would not hesitate | to ban horror comics or books that deal with sex and crime and | have no literary merit. | | > In the end, Nehru favoured the release of the stock withheld by | the Customs | | > This case not only demonstrates Nehru's sensitivity and open- | mindedness, but is also a rare example of statesmanship, where | the prime minister himself read a book in question to decide | whether it should be censored. | superb-owl wrote: | PeterWhittaker wrote: | I've tried to read Lolita a few times, and have never made it | through. Between the turgid prose, the abominably horrible | narrator, and the pedophilia, I simply lack the endurance and | interest. | | My daughter had to finish it for a uni project and she confirmed | for me that the depressingly boring tone continued to the morally | inadequate end. | | I've read a few of the "greatest" books of the last 200 years and | simply cannot fathom how this one was so well received. | systemvoltage wrote: | Perhaps, one has to realize that the artistry here is clever | cloaking of the most repugnant motif with the equal and the | opposite - utterly beautiful prose that captivates the mind. | So, in a way, Nobokov masterfully created this intense tension | in the reader between the foreground and the background. If | this book was a painting, it'd be right up there with | Hieronymus Bosch[1], visually the most contrasting thing one | can imagine. | | I can see why some people "don't get it", may be there is more | to it. This is my interpretation atleast and I personally think | Lolita deserves its reputation as one of the greatest books | ever written. | | [1] | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hieronymus_Bosch#/media/File:T... | leephillips wrote: | I like your take. I agree about the status of the novel: it's | taken a permanent place as one of the supreme artistic | monuments in the history of the English language. Like much | of Nabokov's work, _Lolita_ is in part a puzzle, with traps | set for the hasty reader. It may not be about what it seems | to be about. | xeromal wrote: | I, too, failed to finish Lolita. The prose is interesting, but | I just couldn't get into the story. | | I'm sure I'll be derided for this, but I think a good | alternative that you might want to consider is Perfume by | Suskind. It has a similar over-the-top style of prose, but it | was very enjoyable to me and it had an interesting story. Only | the ending was a bit strange, but it was well worth my time. | | Give it a shot! | tomcam wrote: | It is easy for me to understand just about any criticism of | Lolita, but "turgid" prose? In my mind it is one of the most | beautifully written books in the history of modern English. | That makes the book profoundly troubling for me, although of | course I feel that no books should be banned for any reason. ___________________________________________________________________ (page generated 2022-06-08 23:01 UTC)