Tom Stoppard is unequivocal on the matter of l'affaire Nabokov.
In all honour, we must honour the only fact: that he said “Burn it.” Everything else is speculation – mostly self-serving speculation on the part of the Nabokov industry, the last people we should listen to.
UPDATE: Just saw, via Maud Newton, that Banville says "Save it":
That Nabokov, before he died, did not destroy what he had written of his final novel is surely an indication that he wanted it to live; likewise, Véra Nabokov, the most vigilant keeper of the flame of her husband’s writings, let the fragment survive, so she too must have thought it worth preserving. If I were Dmitri Nabokov, which thank goodness I am not, I would have the fragment typed up and given to two or three reputable and sympathetic critics – eg, James Wood, Harold Bloom – and perhaps also a writer or two – John Updike, Martin Amis – for their opinion on whether it should be published. Personally, I would very much like to see what Nabokov was working on at the end, though my expectations would not be immensely high. The late novels are a steep falling off from the work of his greatest period – The Defence, Speak, Memory, Lolita, Pale Fire – though of course there are magical things in them. A great writer is always worth reading, even at his worst.
We're already on record as having said "Save it."
i'm with stoppard on this one.
Posted by: grackyfrogg | February 15, 2008 at 03:17 PM
I don't know, if Vera didn't burn it when she was supposed to, I don't think I would be able to either. I like Banville's idea, but a falling off in his later novels? Ada, a falling off? I think not.
Posted by: nicole | February 15, 2008 at 03:36 PM
Thirty years after the great writers death, after the publication of the repressed enchanter, I am for saving it and publishing it. It might be important for Banville's own writing to think that Nabokov's post Pale Fire work is falling off, but for us, Nabokov is a giant and Ada is one of the huge monuments.
Posted by: Steven Elworth | February 15, 2008 at 05:09 PM
I'm sure others have made this point, but let's not forget that Kafka instructed Max Brod to be his literary executioner, and that Brod, thankfully, refused to burn anything. Sometimes writers aren't the best judges of their own work.
Posted by: Cory Garfin | February 16, 2008 at 11:30 AM