Comments on: Dmitri Nabokov 1, Dying Wish 0

By: Ryan W. Bradley

Ryan W. Bradley — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 16:41:31 +0000

it’s kind of f-ed up not to honor someone’s dying wishes. i know it pissed me off when my grandma ignored my grandpas… but what really got me with this is that the book is $35 for a 304 page hardback. really?

By: John Madera

John Madera — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 15:20:03 +0000

Not sure where my comment to this thread vanished to. Anyway.

I’m in for anything Nabokov. I’m okay with the necrophiliac resonance of it.

As for burning stuff up, I’ve threatened to throw everything I own onto a bonfire and, after enjoying the smoke in my eyes, throw myself into the grand conflagration. I’ve also left my wife with lengthy instructions regarding my death and taxes. She’s never amused by such talk.

By: Christopher Higgs

Christopher Higgs — Sat, 17 Oct 2009 13:22:54 +0000

I don’t know how I feel about this. On the one hand, it seems like we should honor the wishes of the deceased; on the other hand, it seems a shame to destroy potentially important unpublished manuscripts. [semicolon used just for Sean Lovelace]

I heard a thing on NPR the other day about Michael Jackson’s enormous catalog of unreleased music. The fella on there was saying how most of it was deemed unsuitable for release by Jackson because it did not meet his standard of excellence. (I guess MJ was an uber perfectionist.) I think this speaks to the Nabokov story, too. I mean, as much as I want to read the last thing ole Vlady wrote, I can also understand not wanting material made available that had not undergone the scrutiny of the red pen.

It’s an interesting dilemma.