The Original of Laura - Hardcover

Nabokov, Vladimir

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0307271897 ISBN 13: 9780307271891

Publisher: Knopf, 2009

Synopsis

This legendary novel has been the source of much anxiety and contention for Nabokov's fans - and family. The late Vladimir Nabokov requested that this unfinished work be destroyed, but his son, Dmitri, did not oblige, although neither did he allow the work to be published - until now. "The Original of Laura" is about a wonderfully large man called Philip Wild, married to a very promiscuous woman, and whose meditations concern the nature of death. The novel was complete in Nabokov's mind, though he died before he could translate his vision on to paper. It is hard, however, to imagine any scholars, Nabokov enthusiasts or literature lovers being disappointed by even these fragments.

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Review

Book Description
When Vladimir Nabokov died in 1977, he left instructions for his heirs to burn the 138 handwritten index cards that made up the rough draft of his final and unfinished novel, The Original of Laura. But Nabokov’s wife, Vera, could not bear to destroy her husband’s last work, and when she died, the fate of the manuscript fell to her son. Dmitri Nabokov, now seventy-five--the Russian novelist’s only surviving heir, and translator of many of his books--has wrestled for three decades with the decision of whether to honor his father’s wish or preserve for posterity the last piece of writing of one of the greatest writers of the twentieth century. His decision finally to allow publication of the fragmented narrative--dark yet playful, preoccupied with mortality--affords us one last experience of Nabokov’s magnificent creativity, the quintessence of his unparalleled body of work.

Photos of the handwritten index cards accompany the text. They are perforated and can be removed and rearranged, as the author likely did when he was writing the novel.

Look Inside The Original of Laura
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The Original of Laura (Inside Spread)	The Original of Laura (Open)

About the Author

Vladimir Nabokov was born in 1899, in St. Petersburg, Russia. His acclaimed works of fiction include Lolita, Pnin, and Pale Fire, among others. He died in Montreux, Switzerland, in 1977.

About this edition

• Publisher: Knopf
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0307271897
• ISBN 13: 9780307271891
• Binding: Hardcover
• Edition number: 1
• Number of pages: 304