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Old 02-01-2013, 09:05 PM   #13
Hamlet53
Nameless Being
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by sun surfer View Post

Ironically enough, I specifically thought of Nabokov and Lolita while writing the guidelines for the category as a sort most extreme example I could think of that could challenge the guidelines (and since he was mentioned, I'll note that I also thought of Conrad too). My conclusion was that some few books just may not fit any region really under the spirit of the guidelines and would be better nominated in some other month. Having thought of Lolita while writing the guidelines, I’m really amazed it's now come up not only as a possible nomination but one that people want to push through to a win before the nominations even start and are using it to choose a region.

Reading some of your posts now, I feel ambivalent on the issue. Though I feel that perhaps technically Nabokov could be considered "from" the U.S. after a certain point, I still think that Lolita as a nomination for the U.S. wouldn't really fit the spirit of the category, and, as Hamlet53 pointed out, a concern is also where things might lead once the criteria is made so squishy, as he put it.

Also, I'm not particularly enthused about a particular region winning in a landslide based on the prospect of nominating one particular book, even if that book definitely fit that region. It just feels a bit like trying to choose your chick before the hen's even laid the eggs.

All that said, I'm happy with Canada & the U.S. (presumably) winning and am looking forward to whatever the nominations may bring once the poll's over.

And to be clear, as issybird mentioned above, it’s up to the group to decide on this one through nominations and voting.
I was sort of surprised as well. Surprised that what started out as in idea to start a separate thread for the purpose of discussing Lolita, to discussing it as a selection in this book club, and then to doing so at the first opportunity by nominating it as a regional selection.
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