Nabokov, The Original of Laura, and the idea of "wanting something to be destroyed."

Here's what I think about the fiasco: if Nabokov had really wanted the novel destroyed, he would have destroyed it himself. And he didn't. So now, we get to read it. Plus, it'll be better than most of the shite that passes off as literature these days.

This is something that Max Brod, Kafka's literary executor, discussed at length. What he basically said: Ultimately, Kafka never burned his own books, and the fact that he left them with someone he knew would publish them speaks volumes.

So I say: Publish, and insert the proviso, "This work was not completed."

Link via Laila and Maud