In the week that Penguin opened the vaults on one of the most tantalising of all literary legacies, Vladimir Nabokov's unfinished novel The Original of Laura, we discuss the decision to disobey the author's wish that it be destroyed. Is it an unfinished masterpiece or the random jottings of a dying man? Actor Dominic West opens the case for publication by reading an extract from the novel.
Nabokov was famously an entomologist as well as a novelist, and we follow the insect trail into a novel shortlisted for this year's Guardian first book award. The Selected Works of TS Spivet is written, designed and illustrated by Reif Larsen, who explains why and how he came to create one of the most singular works of fiction of the year. We also eavesdrop on Kiran Desai's discussion of her Booker winning novel The Inheritance of Loss, at the Guardian book club.
Reading list
The Selected Works of TS Spivet, by Reif Larsen (Harvill Secker)
Buy it at the Guardian bookshop
The Original of Laura, by Vladimir Nabokov (Penguin)
Buy it at the Guardian bookshop
The Inheritance of Loss, by Kiran Desai (Penguin)
Buy it at the Guardian bookshop
