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Fwd: My letter in LA Times re: LOLITA
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Dear Nabokv-L members -
Several (>5) years ago, I was a member of this list, but unsubscribed while
changing jobs and location. I joined again today to write a note about a
letter I wrote this week to the LA Times - they will publish it (they said)
on this Saturday, Jan 1.
My letter (which I've pasted in to this message, see below) was in response
to a Dec. 24 Editorial, decrying proposed legislation to limit the sales of
"offensive" video games to minors in Illinois. The text is here (free reg
required):
http://tinyurl.com/6qqu9
The relevant portion read:
"Bookstores can't be required by law to card teens who want to buy a copy of
"Lolita" or even Hustler, and as disgusting as the "Doom 3" game is (in
which a Marine battles zombies amid mutilated bodies with human screams
echoing), the constitutional problem is the same."
My letter:
+++++
Editor:
Your Dec. 24 editorial ("Parental Advisory") on the proposed Illinois
laws limiting minors' access to certain video games raises several
valid points. However you struck an oddly anachronistic (and
irrelevant) note by mentioning Vladimir Nabokov's acclaimed work of
literature LOLITA (published in 1955) alongside Hustler Magazine and
the game Doom 3 - which you rightly call "disgusting."
One would be hard pressed to observe the roots of human emotion in
Hustler, and I am confident that no critic has yet found a subtle
interplay of remembrance and imagination in Doom 3. All of these things
and much more, however, form the basis for Nabokov's lifelong
contributions to literature. Yes, there is moral shock value to the
story line. But the heart and soul of LOLITA is invisible in a mere
recounting of the story. Its impact lies instead in Nabokov's mastery
of language and his combination of humor and tragedy, which he
manipulates in subtle combination until, in the end, he exhibits a
mastery over his readers as well.
Andrew Shaindlin"
Happy New Year to all -
-AS
----- End forwarded message -----
Several (>5) years ago, I was a member of this list, but unsubscribed while
changing jobs and location. I joined again today to write a note about a
letter I wrote this week to the LA Times - they will publish it (they said)
on this Saturday, Jan 1.
My letter (which I've pasted in to this message, see below) was in response
to a Dec. 24 Editorial, decrying proposed legislation to limit the sales of
"offensive" video games to minors in Illinois. The text is here (free reg
required):
http://tinyurl.com/6qqu9
The relevant portion read:
"Bookstores can't be required by law to card teens who want to buy a copy of
"Lolita" or even Hustler, and as disgusting as the "Doom 3" game is (in
which a Marine battles zombies amid mutilated bodies with human screams
echoing), the constitutional problem is the same."
My letter:
+++++
Editor:
Your Dec. 24 editorial ("Parental Advisory") on the proposed Illinois
laws limiting minors' access to certain video games raises several
valid points. However you struck an oddly anachronistic (and
irrelevant) note by mentioning Vladimir Nabokov's acclaimed work of
literature LOLITA (published in 1955) alongside Hustler Magazine and
the game Doom 3 - which you rightly call "disgusting."
One would be hard pressed to observe the roots of human emotion in
Hustler, and I am confident that no critic has yet found a subtle
interplay of remembrance and imagination in Doom 3. All of these things
and much more, however, form the basis for Nabokov's lifelong
contributions to literature. Yes, there is moral shock value to the
story line. But the heart and soul of LOLITA is invisible in a mere
recounting of the story. Its impact lies instead in Nabokov's mastery
of language and his combination of humor and tragedy, which he
manipulates in subtle combination until, in the end, he exhibits a
mastery over his readers as well.
Andrew Shaindlin"
Happy New Year to all -
-AS
----- End forwarded message -----