NPPF -- Doubts on the incest business

[Paul Mackin]

One reason to cast doubt on the "shocking theory" (in addition to the
aesthetic one--N is better than that) might be that back at the time the
book was being written child seduction and/or rape, including those
cases occurring within the family, were not thought of as nearly the
social problem they later become known for. Didn't
psychiatrists--following Freud's example--tend to pass tales of such
things off as screen memories and fantasies deriving from psychoanalytic
theory? It was only in the seventies or later when Freud's so called
rejection of the seduction theory was brought forcefully into question
and Oprah and Roseanne took up the challenge with a vengeance that this
type of child abuse moved to the front burner of national interest. Of
course N could have been ahead of his time. But somehow I don't think
child seduction resulting in serious trauma and lifelong complications
would greatly interest an author who was capable of dealing with the
subject as tragicomic love stories as in Lolita and Ada.

Happy to be corrected. No personal experience.

P.