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When Jawaharlal Nehru Read ‘Lolita’

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Re: When Jawaharlal Nehru Read ‘Lolita’

#21

Post by JoeAltmaier »

xwolfi wrote: post #20
PeterWhittaker wrote: post #4

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…

But the pedophilia has an interesting twist: the child initiate then dismiss it while the main character, writing from jail, is a victim of it. At least on a first level, but sometimes you can feel it's not exactly how it is for Dolores. It's strange and surprising all along, it's in 3 parts: the rise up to the seduction, the american road trip and then the morale: youth is passing, children play and forget, whatever…

Children cannot be responsible, almost by definition. The only person possibly responsible for pedophilia, is the adult involved.

Re: When Jawaharlal Nehru Read ‘Lolita’

#23

Post by jackallis »

PeterWhittaker wrote: post #4

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…

this [1]might help you get a sense of why Nobokov is hard to read. [1] https://moodyap.pbworks.com/f/nbkv.GoodReaders_Writers.pdf

Re: When Jawaharlal Nehru Read ‘Lolita’

#24

Post by rfrey »

xwolfi wrote: post #20
PeterWhittaker wrote: post #4

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…

But the pedophilia has an interesting twist: the child initiate then dismiss it while the main character, writing from jail, is a victim of it. At least on a first level, but sometimes you can feel it's not exactly how it is for Dolores. It's strange and surprising all along, it's in 3 parts: the rise up to the seduction, the american road trip and then the morale: youth is passing, children play and forget, whatever…

Disgust at the rape of a 12 year old is not prudish.

Re: When Jawaharlal Nehru Read ‘Lolita’

#25

Post by muststopmyths »

ricardobeat wrote: post #9

Quite interesting to frame this one person's censorship power, deciding what a billion people can or cannot read, as 'a rare example of statesmanship'.

There weren’t a billion people then.

Also, he didn’t have censorship power. Rather if you read the article, he convinced the people who wanted to censor it to not do so.

We seem to have forgotten what statesmanship is these days. India was and is a very conservative country. For him to not do the easy thing was indeed a reflection of his character. For all his faults, he was a great leader.

Re: When Jawaharlal Nehru Read ‘Lolita’

#26

Post by [deleted] »

PeterWhittaker wrote: post #4

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…

[deleted]

Re: When Jawaharlal Nehru Read ‘Lolita’

#27

Post by HexDecOctBin »

rajeshp1986 wrote: post #17

This is written like a PR piece for Nehru.

It probably is, given the state of Indian politics. The main opposition party is the somewhat cosmopolitan Congress that has failed to produce any leader in the past three decades. The ruling party BJP is despised in many liberal circles. And the rising opposition parties (AAP/TMC) have a very grounded, mass appeal style of politics.

For a lot of affluent liberals (champagne socialists, if you will), this is horrifying. Thus, nostalgic pieces like these to celebrate a time when the power was concentrated in the hands of the enlightened elites, rather than the ethno-nationalists or populists who appeal to the unwashed horde.

This liberal nostalgia is just as predictable as the bile that is spewed in the direction of Nehru and Gandhi by the currently ruling bigots. Unfortunately, only one of those sections of society seems to be losing power. One step at a time, I suppose...

Re: When Jawaharlal Nehru Read ‘Lolita’

#29

Post by 3flp »

"Karaka explained that the book glorified a sexual relationship..."

This is the issue. And a misunderstanding. That's not at all how I took the book when I read it. It does not glorify anything - it is quite the opposite. What made the book an interesting read (although I have no interest in revisiting it) was the contrast between the tragedy of the story, and the playful language. The unreliable first person narrator is trying to make himself look sympathetic to the reader, all the while confessing to all his despicable endeavors.

Overall, quite jarring and I can see how it can be misunderstood.

Re: When Jawaharlal Nehru Read ‘Lolita’

#30

Post by kaesar14 »

muststopmyths wrote: post #25
ricardobeat wrote: post #9

Quite interesting to frame this one person's censorship power, deciding what a billion people can or cannot read, as 'a rare example of statesmanship'.

There weren’t a billion people then. Also, he didn’t have censorship power. Rather if you read the article, he convinced the people who wanted to censor it to not do so. We seem to have forgotten what statesmanship is these days. India was and is a very conservative country. For him to not do the easy thing was indeed a reflection of his character. For all his faults, he was a great leader.

India hasn't seen his equal since then.
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