…maybe I might camp out at Barnes and Nobles and read the book front and back instead of purchasing? Why exactly should I pay for something incomplete and not created for my eyes in the first place?

http://anlimarey.wordpress.com/

Because on the other hand, why didn’t Nabokov burn it himself then? Was he saving the book for a “rainy day”? Was it something once in a while he went back to, for a read, an updated page or two, nostalgia from his personal life, secret memories from the past…? Perhaps the simple hope he would indeed finish it, one day…?

Whatever the reason, his son Dmitri has declared [according to The Observer] that this unfinished work would become Nabokov’s “most concentrated distillation of [his father’s] creativity”.

In my opinion, though, “what ifs” are not good enough. They are nice thoughts we all have and don’t control. In this case, though, it’s clear. His father never finished the work. As a matter of fact, he wanted it burned because it wasn’t the ‘final’ piece. Dmitri’s obviously selling the book by saying that – it’s marketing (I’m not blaming him, though). Although I do agree that the probability, had it been finished, of becoming a masterpiece had to be high, coming from Nabokov.

This whole thing made me think of Paul Newman’s line from “Cool Hand Luke”, when he shouts: “Stop feedin’ off me!” I can imagine a Shakespearian ghost of Nabokov shouting that one.

Well, I don’t have any plans to get the book. Also, I don’t feel like helping fitting wheelchairs in the trunks of Maseratis (humourous or not as it may have been, I’m not particularly fond of that type of remarks).

However, I’m not defending people have or not the right to read it. That’s not my problem, and not my right. It’s a natural thing – Man is curious by nature. I’m just not that attracted to this. I like to believe in a ‘final work’, the ultimate presentation of an artist’s effort. It’s easy to understand why someone wouldn’t want their drafts to see the light of day.

In any case, I doubt that it will be a disappointment for Nabokov fanatics. And indeed, “Manuscripts don’t burn.”

The way I see it: there are many good authors still out there, longing for their works to be read, and not riding Maseratis. And their works are quite finished.

http://avenuel.wordpress.com/

Could he not have destroyed the manuscript himself? Or, hidden it somewhere that nobody he knew would still be alive to find it? And whether or not anyone could or would find it, he may* never know.

I say “may” because he could very well have been hovering over the printing press, grimacing and snarling (would he snarl?) that his wishes were not respected.