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Re: Nabokov’s last book comes to light ...
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Machado de Assis, the most famous Brazilian writer, also burnt (himself) all
his correspondences and, probably, unfinished works. It's really a subject
very controversial. Burn or not burn? What if Max Brod had followed Kafka
wishes?Best wishes,
Claudio Soares
On Thu, Nov 20, 2008 at 9:54 PM, Sandy P. Klein <spklein52@hotmail.com>wrote:
>
> [image: Subscribe to The Christian Science Monitor print edition]
>
>
> http://features.csmonitor.com/books/2008/11/19/nabokovs-last-book-comes-to-light/
>
>
> Nabokov's last book comes to light *By Marjorie Kehe* | 11.19.08
> Brace yourself for the literary event of 2009: the posthumous publication
> of Vladimir Nabokov <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Nabokov>'s last
> novel.
>
> The novel has been the source of speculation and controversy ever since
> Nabokov's death in 1977. The author's dying wish, conveyed to his wife, was
> that the unfinished worked should be burned. But she could never bring
> herself to do it.
>
> So, instead, the work entitled "The Original of Laura," written on 138
> index cards, passed into the hands of Nabokov's son Dmitri. After years of
> indecision, Dmitri recently announced that he would publish it.
>
> Last night, in an interview with the BBC<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/7735483.stm>,
> Dmitri revealed something about the book's content for the first time. He
> said it is the story of an overweight, unattractive but brilliant academic
> who is driven to despair by the infidelity of his young wife, Flora. (He
> married Flora because she looks like a young woman he once loved.)
>
> In the BBC interview, Dmitri calls his father's last book "an
> extraordinarily original work" which is "captivating" but "not necessarily
> always pleasant – shocking in some ways."
>
> Over the years, many literary experts have speculated that this last book
> reprises some of the theme's of Nabokov's controversial 1955 book "Lolita."
> Dmitri's decision to ignore his father's final wish and publish the book
> has been controversial. "My father told me what his important books were,"
> Dmitri told the BBC in defense of his decision. "He named 'Laura' as one of
> them. One doesn't name a book one intends to destroy."
>
> British screenwriter and playwright Tom Stoppard<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Stoppard> isn't
> buying it. "It's perfectly straightforward," he told the BBC. "Nabokov
> wanted it burnt, so burn it."
>
> The BBC notes that this isn't the first time a posthumous work has been
> fated for the flames. When Lord Byron<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Byron> died
> in 1824, his memoirs were tossed into the fire at his publishers' office.
> Byron's literary executors said the destruction was necessary to prevent the
> poet – once called "mad, bad and dangerous to know" by his lover Lady
> Caroline Lamb – from ruining his reputation.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> * *
>
>
> Search the archive<http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en> Contact
> the Editors <nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu> Visit "Nabokov
> Online Journal" <http://www.nabokovonline.com> Visit Zembla<http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm> View
> Nabokv-L Policies <http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm> Manage
> subscription options <http://listserv.ucsb.edu/>
>
> All private editorial communications, without exception, are read by both
> co-editors.
>
--
Forte abraço.
C. S. Soares
http://blog.pontolit.com.br
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/
his correspondences and, probably, unfinished works. It's really a subject
very controversial. Burn or not burn? What if Max Brod had followed Kafka
wishes?Best wishes,
Claudio Soares
On Thu, Nov 20, 2008 at 9:54 PM, Sandy P. Klein <spklein52@hotmail.com>wrote:
>
> [image: Subscribe to The Christian Science Monitor print edition]
>
>
> http://features.csmonitor.com/books/2008/11/19/nabokovs-last-book-comes-to-light/
>
>
> Nabokov's last book comes to light *By Marjorie Kehe* | 11.19.08
> Brace yourself for the literary event of 2009: the posthumous publication
> of Vladimir Nabokov <http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vladimir_Nabokov>'s last
> novel.
>
> The novel has been the source of speculation and controversy ever since
> Nabokov's death in 1977. The author's dying wish, conveyed to his wife, was
> that the unfinished worked should be burned. But she could never bring
> herself to do it.
>
> So, instead, the work entitled "The Original of Laura," written on 138
> index cards, passed into the hands of Nabokov's son Dmitri. After years of
> indecision, Dmitri recently announced that he would publish it.
>
> Last night, in an interview with the BBC<http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/programmes/newsnight/7735483.stm>,
> Dmitri revealed something about the book's content for the first time. He
> said it is the story of an overweight, unattractive but brilliant academic
> who is driven to despair by the infidelity of his young wife, Flora. (He
> married Flora because she looks like a young woman he once loved.)
>
> In the BBC interview, Dmitri calls his father's last book "an
> extraordinarily original work" which is "captivating" but "not necessarily
> always pleasant – shocking in some ways."
>
> Over the years, many literary experts have speculated that this last book
> reprises some of the theme's of Nabokov's controversial 1955 book "Lolita."
> Dmitri's decision to ignore his father's final wish and publish the book
> has been controversial. "My father told me what his important books were,"
> Dmitri told the BBC in defense of his decision. "He named 'Laura' as one of
> them. One doesn't name a book one intends to destroy."
>
> British screenwriter and playwright Tom Stoppard<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tom_Stoppard> isn't
> buying it. "It's perfectly straightforward," he told the BBC. "Nabokov
> wanted it burnt, so burn it."
>
> The BBC notes that this isn't the first time a posthumous work has been
> fated for the flames. When Lord Byron<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lord_Byron> died
> in 1824, his memoirs were tossed into the fire at his publishers' office.
> Byron's literary executors said the destruction was necessary to prevent the
> poet – once called "mad, bad and dangerous to know" by his lover Lady
> Caroline Lamb – from ruining his reputation.
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
>
> * *
>
>
> Search the archive<http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en> Contact
> the Editors <nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu> Visit "Nabokov
> Online Journal" <http://www.nabokovonline.com> Visit Zembla<http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm> View
> Nabokv-L Policies <http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm> Manage
> subscription options <http://listserv.ucsb.edu/>
>
> All private editorial communications, without exception, are read by both
> co-editors.
>
--
Forte abraço.
C. S. Soares
http://blog.pontolit.com.br
Search archive with Google:
http://www.google.com/advanced_search?q=site:listserv.ucsb.edu&HL=en
Contact the Editors: mailto:nabokv-l@utk.edu,nabokv-l@holycross.edu
Visit Zembla: http://www.libraries.psu.edu/nabokov/zembla.htm
View Nabokv-L policies: http://web.utk.edu/~sblackwe/EDNote.htm
Visit "Nabokov Online Journal:" http://www.nabokovonline.com
Manage subscription options: http://listserv.ucsb.edu/