To Burn, Or Not To Burn ... NOT!

Photo from BBC

Hat tip to Publishers Lunch for pointing out today's story on THE ORIGINAL OF LAURA, Vladimir Nabokov's unfinished novel, which the author asked be burned following his death, which occurred in 1977.

Nabokov's son, Dmitri, who is publishing the work (set for release in 2009), speaks out for the first time about the book's contents.

Via The Independent:

He described it as "an extraordinarily original work" which was "captivating" but also "not necessarily always pleasant – shocking in some ways".

The hero of the book is Philip Wild, an overweight and physically unattractive academic with a brilliant mind who has a "wildly promiscuous" and unfaithful wife named Flora, whom he married because of her resemblance to a young woman he once loved. In the novel, which is both playful and dark, Wild toys with the idea of committing suicide.

There's also a BBC program online about the work.


— TJ Sullivan