The lecture focuses on Nabokov’s last incomplete novel "The Original of Laura".
The original author’s title of the novel "Dying is Fun", relegated to the background in the American edition, was completely lost in the Russian version, which, however, does not negate the fact that "Laura" is a novel about death. The failed title refers to the words "Dying is an art" from Sylvia Plath’s poem "Lady Lazarus", which, however, is not so much about death as about resurrection and rebirth from the ashes. The novel about dying therefore turns into a narrative about the transition to a ‘new life’, about suicide as self-destruction and liberation. Intertextual clues help to read the novel in this way, including Dante’s "Divine Comedy", Virgil’s "Aeneid", and "tragic heroes in Japanese history" (one of whom is Yukio Mishima), and Jose Silva, i.e. the creator of the mind control method.
15 March 2024