ST. PETERSBURG, Russia (AP) — Vladimir Nabokov’s final, fragmentary novel has gone on sale in two versions in Russia, more than 30 years after he asked that it be burned upon his death.
The emigre Russian wrote “The Original of Laura” on index cards in 1975-77, the last years of his life.
He asked his wife and son to burn the cards after his death, said Tatiana Ponormaryova, director of the Nabokov museum in St. Petersburg, where the versions were presented Monday.
One contains reproductions of the English-language index cards. The other, in Russian, puts the words into conventional text form.
His son Dmitry, who decided to publish the work, wrote in the preface that “I think my father or his shadow would not be against of letting Laura to freedom if it has already lived for so long.”
© 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
