Slog - Comments on Fathers and Sons http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/post_151 It will happen... Dmitri Nabokov, the son of the greatest novelist in the English language, Vladimir Nabokov, will publish the novel his father did not want the world to read, The Original of Laura. In an NYT interview, Dmitri defends his betrayal with this reasoning: It’s been three decades since your father’s death. Why did it take you so long to decide the fate of “Laura”, and how did you come to your final decision? How difficult has it been? In the words of one blogger, 30 years is tantamount to eternity in the given context, which would absolve me... Copyright 2008 Mon, 05 May 2008 09:50:14 -0800 Mon, 05 May 2008 16:52:38 -0800 http://www.movabletype.org/?v=3.34 http://blogs.law.harvard.edu/tech/rss Comment by Fnarf Yawn. It's not a literary event, it's an exhumation. Nabokov's reputation will not be affected one way or the other by this unfinished ephemeron. I certainly won't buy the thing, and I have everything.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/post_151#c1013668 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/post_151#c1013668 Books Mon, 05 May 2008 10:03:08 -0800 Comment by mattymatt I'd like to imagine that Vladimir and Dmitri posed for the illustration that accompanies this post.

]]> mattymatt http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/post_151#c1013672 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/post_151#c1013672 Books Mon, 05 May 2008 10:11:01 -0800 Comment by max solomon BETRAYAL? put down the hyperbole.

dead people's wishes mean nothing.

]]> max solomon http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/post_151#c1013708 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/post_151#c1013708 Books Mon, 05 May 2008 10:51:24 -0800 Comment by elswinger It will probably sell as well as Kerouac's original "On The Road" manuscript (before editing). Meaning not much. This is just big news for the litterati.

]]> elswinger http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/post_151#c1013879 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/post_151#c1013879 Books Mon, 05 May 2008 11:32:21 -0800 Comment by michael strangeways Mudede, light of my life, fire of my loin. My sin, my soul. Moo-Dee-Dee.

]]> michael strangeways http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/post_151#c1013890 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/post_151#c1013890 Books Mon, 05 May 2008 11:34:05 -0800 Comment by PopTart In surprising news, not everyone thinks Nabokov was the greatest novelist in the English language.

Besides, what if "The Original of Laura" does have original, boundary pushing fictional devices, as the biographer is quoted as saying in the article? Would you deny the literary world such a work of genius?

And, will you refuse to read it?

]]> PopTart http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/post_151#c1014008 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/post_151#c1014008 Books Mon, 05 May 2008 11:59:35 -0800 Comment by Fnarf It's not a "work of genius" because it's NOT FINISHED. The fantabulous devices of which you speak are of interest only to the Nabokov scholar.

]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/post_151#c1014151 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/post_151#c1014151 Books Mon, 05 May 2008 12:32:47 -0800 Comment by ellarosa yeah, really charles--"betrayal"! what a drama king you are. you cannot betray the dead, just as funerals are not for them--how could they be?-- but for the survivors. and his argument defending his decision sounds logical enough. so, he should have burned it? like kafka's friend should have burned everything HE wrote? grow up.

]]> ellarosa http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/post_151#c1014252 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/post_151#c1014252 Books Mon, 05 May 2008 12:56:08 -0800 Comment by Ryno Vergil wanted the Aeneid destroyed, too. Authorial fetishism is so tiring.

]]> Ryno http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/post_151#c1014548 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/post_151#c1014548 Books Mon, 05 May 2008 14:57:25 -0800 Comment by Jessica Knapp I tend to agree. And maybe there's reason to suspect his motivations—money? attention?—but it seems the son would have the best sense of his father's real intent behind his dying wishes. Also, the scholar mentioned in the article did come to the conclusion that there is value in publishing the work—and the article did give the impression that the particular scholar only came to that conclusion only after some thought.
I'm torn a little. I hate to say you disregard a man's wishes for his last work, but there is also the argument that an author's work exists separate of him/her once it has been written. You wouldn't necessarily listen to an author regarding how to interpret the work. Do you need to listen to them regarding whether to publish? Who/what do we offend by publishing it? Our own feeling of honoring of Nabokov's memory? I think we can still adequately honor him ... and maybe learn a little bit more about him.

]]> Jessica Knapp http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/post_151#c1014775 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/post_151#c1014775 Books Mon, 05 May 2008 16:44:51 -0800 Comment by Fnarf and maybe learn a little bit more about him Oof, that's a very un-Nabokovian point of view. VN vociferously denied that you could learn anything about anything from works of fiction -- certainly not the author's life or times.]]> Fnarf http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/post_151#c1014790 http://slog.thestranger.com/2008/05/post_151#c1014790 Books Mon, 05 May 2008 16:52:38 -0800