The dead have no wishes. V.N. could have destroyed the manuscript himself if it was that important to him, but he didn’t. What Dimitri must do with the manuscript is whatever will bring him peace. When I was in my twenties a close friend of mine died. At his wake he was laid out in an open casket with a string of rosary beads laced through his fingers. Another friend was outraged by this, because our dead friend was an avowed atheist. But the dead man’s parents were Catholic and confronted with the tragic death of their only child this small gesture gave them solace. It’s the living that must deal with the dead, so the living must do whatever it may be that will allow them to continue their lives in the face of loss. Before my friend’s death, I had strongly expressed my desire to be cremated when death should visit me, but as I looked at the rosary beads in my dead friend’s hands I knew that it didn’t matter. The most important thing would be that my family do whatever would bring them peace. Perhaps for Dimitri that means burning the manuscript. I hope that he can find peace in not burning the manuscript. Misguided and even malicious critics will expound on Nabokov long after Dimitri is gone, regardless of whether this manuscript survives. But ultimately they are only a fraction of the voices that will record the history of Nabokov. History will prevail in time and the truest history is always a product of the most complete record.

I could not agree more. We only control our work in so far as we possess it, and the dead can no longer possess. Ozymandias redux.

Sell The Original of Laura for material gain, donate it with stipulations, or do whatever feels and seems the right way to make the manuscript as useful a tool as possible--for yourself and for others, for the living and future generations. The work is ultimately only a tool (even one toward literary ends), and a tool only has meaning when it has been used or exercised, now and in the future. Destroying it doesn't help anyone, last bequests included; we do not dishonor the dead through making the world a richer place.

I disagree in both detail and spirit.

First, given the circumstances of his last days and weeks, VVN did not in fact have the opportunity to destroy the manuscript himself. That's why he asked Vera to do it.

The dead often leave wishes, and it is up to the living whether they honor them. What if your friend had felt his atheism so strongly that he asked his parents not to place any symbols of religion in the casket with him? Is that inconsequential?

Personally, I hope that Dmitry does nothing with the book. In the context of how much he collaborated with his wife in composing his work, Vera's decision not to destroy Laura should be honored, as well. Perhaps Dmitry should keep it under wraps and pass it along.

In 2046, copyright protection expires on all his work. How about that for letting history decide. Make it a time capsule.

If someone is an atheist, then burying him with a rosary is at least partially a spiteful "fuck you."

On the other hand, when we grieve for the dead, we really grieve for ourselves. That's a tough call.

Your thoughts are humane and beautiful, and serve the ineffable, private relationship of a son to a father.

But in some ways, don't great artists belong as well to posterity and not only to their loved ones?