A review by 5fourteen
The Original of Laura by Vladimir Nabokov

4.0

I agree with others who reviewed this book and said that it wasn't really "a novel in fragments." It was more like "fragments of a novel." I also do feel that the introduction was somewhat misleading. There is a particular line: "Nabokov did not desire to burn The Original of Laura willy-nilly, but to live on for the last few card lengths needed to finish at least a complete draft." Perhaps Dmitri Nabokov and I differ on the meaning of "a few" and "complete draft," because I don't think that what was containted on those pages was a mere few index cards away from being a complete draft.

Still, I felt it was a worthwhile read, even if it did feel a bit creepy at times. I was able to get a glimpse into the writing process of a great man, but sometimes it felt voyeuristic.