Lolita
Mill: publication in this country of Mr. Vladimir Nabokov's Lolita has now taken place, and the fuss made about it for the past year seems very curious and faded indeed. Ready to con- gratulate Messrs. Weidenfeld and Nicolson, those who believe With the Spectator that the censor-. ship of books by the prurient-minded should be discouraged, now find the congratulations dying in embarrassed silence on their lips as Lolita takes its place quite properly and unsensationally in the week's output of new novels. It will now, pre- sumably, be read and discussed like other books; some people will like it and others will not. But the affair is encouraging in that it shows that a spirited defence of freedom in literature, backed by sufficient people of reputation, can effectively spoil the yahoo's day out.
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