Vladimir Nabokov's survivors are struggling with a problem they are at a loss to resolve - whether to publish a brilliant fragment of the novel Nabokov was working on at the time of his death or throw it in the fire, as he demanded.
To burn or not to burn the last work of one of the century's greatest writers is the question vexing Nabokov's son Dmitri and his widow Vera a dozen years after his death."We don't know what to do," says Dmitri.
At issue is the future of a fragment - about a third of what was to have been a short work called "The Original of Laura."
Dmitri calls the work one of the best pieces his father wrote but adds:
"If we burn it, it is lost forever. If we don't burn it, we will be disobeying his wishes. I cannot even tell you what it is about because that would be disobeying his wishes."