Posted on 01/23/2006 9:05:36 AM PST by billorites
OCALA, Fla. -- A 50-year-old classic novel about forbidden love is shaking things up in Marion County.
The controversy centers on the book "Lolita" and whether it's obscene under today's standards, WESH 2 News reported.
"Lolita" is a famous novel full of pages and pages of sexually explicit material about pedophilia.
"I believe that you, at least hypothetically, could read this book and consider it obscene," said Terry Blaes, of Dunnellon.
She challenged the Marion County Commission to determine whether they should pull "Lolita" from public library shelves, as they have the right to do so.
"I want you to think about the effect of literature on the people who read it, children and adults," she said.
In an odd twist, even though Blaes sounds opposed to "Lolita" on the shelves, she actually wants it to remain. Her challenge really questions what Marion County Commissioners think.
"If there's something illegal there that children can't be exposed to, then we need to remove it," said County Commissioner Randy Harris.
On a 3-2 vote, the County Commission determined "Lolita" will stay on the adult fiction shelves, but they also ordered the county attorney to come up with his determination on whether "Lolita" is indecent for minors.
Blaes believes "Lolita's" fate should be a community-wide decision.
"I think that's the American way of dealing with controversial books," she said.
The attorney will recommend to the commissioners whether he thinks the book is unsuitable for minors. They still would have to vote to determine if "Lolita" remains on the shelf or is hidden behind a desk.
No date has been set as to when the attorney must make his decision about "Lolita."
Man I hate stuff like this! One of the truly great American novels. It was actually written in between 1950-1953 so it's well over 50 years old.
Good grief.
All books can be indecent books
Though recent books are bolder
For filth, I'm glad to say
Is in the mind of the beholder
When correctly viewed
Everything is lewd
I could tell you things about Peter Pan
And the Wizard of Oz is a dirty old man...
-Tom Lehrer - "Smut"
This gives a lot of publicity to a book that most have never heard of. Unintended consequences??
Oh, for Pete's sake! Lolita? It's not an obscene book. It's not pornography. It's a novel about a very sad character and his obsession.
Should it be on the adult shelves? Absolutely. Should minors be allowed to read it? That depends on their parents.
And 'Romeo and Juliet' opens a whole can of worms, too. 'Huckleberry Finn' has hate speech. And a book by Helen Thomas probably has her picture on the dust jacket. How bad will we let things get?
One of the truly great American novels? Sheesh, it was crap in the 50's and it's still crap.
next, Summer of 42 will be considered "child porn".
Oh brother. First the nonsense about regulating cable TV and satellite radio, now this. If there's one thing the self-appointed guardians of virtue/political correctness on both the left and right side of the political spectrum can agree on, it's the need to censor what the rest of us watch, listen to, and read.
I only learned about the book because I wanted to find out what Sting was singing about when he mentioned "that book by Nabokov."
Fanny Hill!
"next, Summer of 42 will be considered "child porn"."
And "Peyton Place," another book with incest in it. I thought the book-banning nonsense had finally gone away.
The movie is on today at 3:00pm eastern on Turner Classic Movies.
Sting also pronounced Na-BO-kov wrong.
I don't think it should be pulled, but it is a god-awful novel.
I was so disgusted, I didn't finish it.
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