Yeah, this is kind of the trouble with this sort of thing. Even ignoring the obscenity issue (_many_ great works of English literature were not originally published in English-speaking countries, but rather in France, which was more laid-back about this sort of thing), it is not that long ago that novels as a form were considered kinda inherently disreputable/low-brow; even into the 19th century, _all_ novels were kind of seen a bit like how we now see genre fiction.