Dear List,
Almost two weeks ago a Dutch newspaper published an article announcing the upcoming publication of new Nabokov material, quoting from an interview with Dmitri that appeared in the French weekly l’Express. I located the interview and translated it into English for the benefit of those who don't know French. As I'm not a native speaker of either language, I expect there to be numerous errors; by all means feel free to point them out.
Kind regards,
Philip Klop
Dmitri Nabokov: "It is as if my father appeared and told me 'publish it!'"
by Pierre Thaulaz, published on 22/12/2010 at 07:00
An unplished novella by Nabokov should be published shortly. It's a play: The Tragedy of Mister Morn.
One year after the posthumous publication of The Original of Laura, other unpublished material from the Russian writer is being prepared to leave the Swiss safe. His son, Dmitri (76), tells us more.
Like your parents, you live in Montreux. What binds you to this place?
I look out from my window over the "Nabokov Floor" at Montreux Palace, where my parents had such great years. The Montreux of 1961 was much more bucolic, the atmosphere reminded my father a bit of the Russia from his childhood. When he died, in 1977, my mother continued to live at the Palace, until they announced it would receive a little facelift, which in hotel language means thoroughly repairing the building. My mother was asked to leave the top floor during construction work. She requested me to find her a big apartment, which I did. My mother spent there the last two years of her life. After her death, in 1991, I decided to stay there.
You have been a racing driver and an opera singer. Nowadays, you serve your father's oeuvre...
I'm working on a collection of one hundred poems composed by my father. I've translated a big part from Russian to English, some
were directly written in English, others had been translated by my father. A
real challenge, as he felt the details are what's most important in a
writer. This book will be published in November or early December 2011.
Will there be other surprise publications like that?
If I would tell you, it would no longer be a surprise... But, yes, there will be a play, perhaps the best he has ever published. The Tragedy of Mister Morn is a bit of a mysterious piece, which I like alot. It's being translated and will be published, I think, in a year and a half. Next, there will be yet another small piece, other poems and lectures on Pushkin and Shakespeare. And then, from time to time, one stumbles upon something new in the archives, like the correspondence between my parents.
Is all this stored in safes at the bank, like The Original of Laura?
Some things are in safes, others are in the Library of Congress in Washington, or still in the Library of New York.
What kind of questions do these posthumous works raise in you?
Mister Nabokov, why do you need to publish the correspondence between your father and your mother, who have lived so many happy years together?
Are these letters that good?
Oh, yes! They were written when my father left to lecture at universities. There are 303 of them, very beautiful, very tender. In some, there's a little drawing meant for me. My father added a small car, a train with smoke coming out, airplanes. A first part will be published in the Russian journal Snob. The rest will be made into a book.
A year ago, you published The Original of Laura, your father's unfinished novel. A decision that caused much controversy ...
Well, nobody was forced to read it or buy it (laughs)! I always intended to publish it. It's fascinating for a reader to see the creative process, the writer in his studio, to discover what he keeps, what he strikes out, what other word he proposes.
You have declared having seen your father in a dream giving you his support?
No. It all started during a roundtable at an Australian radio station. Towards the end of the show, I said: "Yes, my father still exists for me!" When I have a translation problem to solve, I always wonder what my father or my mother would have said or thought. There is no mysticism there. So I said, just for fun: "It's like my father appeared behind my shoulder and said: "Publish it! Have a little fun! And maybe we can make some money!"
Do you miss the world from before your disability?
Yes. I was very fond of tennis, skiing, auto sport... At university I ran the mile. Speed in general, movement, was very important to me. Alas, today I am glued to this chair. Fortunately, I'm blessed with a brain that's still young and active.
Do you still sing?
This morning, for my governess, the duet from Don Giovanni-Zerlina: Là ci darem la mano...
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