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Joshie's Reviews > Speak, Memory
Speak, Memory
by
by
"Imagination, the supreme delight of the immortal and the immature, should be limited. In order to enjoy life, we should not enjoy it too much." (p9)
Evocative and worthwhile, Nabokov's autobiographical memoir, Speak, Memory, told of his fondest, most unforgettable childhood memories, his family's situation during the second world war and then bits and pieces of being grateful in having his son and wife Vera (addressed as 'you' throughout). Of course, this was a condensed summary from me and it didn't do this magnificent memoir justice. Indeed, the book almost felt like listening to your favorite grandfather's stories while sitting at a dining table for dinner.
Brought up in an affluent family, Nabokov told of his governess, private tutors, and education, his French, German, and English lessons, and of his family tree — a string of unfamiliar relatives and relatives familiar enough to have had made quite an impression on him; one of his uncles, eccentric Uncle Ruka, was the most memorable for me and he recounted him movingly yet without harmful bias and, curiously, some detachment.
I have never really thought of Nabokov the Writer versus Nabokov the Student / Nabokov the Son / Nabokov the Lepidopterist. He was just plain Nabokov to me but after reading Speak, Memory I admired him more than ever not only with what he's famous for but also as a human being. He had lived a life, although unknown to me, like how many of us live our own: with struggles, with regrets, with passion, and with this desire to shelf every doting (even the worst I must say) memory in the banks of our minds. Speak, Memory did not talk about much about his bibliography and focused mostly on his earliest memories and his re-visits of them years later which provided endings. He also referred of his present life with Vera in an unusual style as if separating it from the past. Definitely a delightful, wonderful autobiography on his life as I saw him now in a different light. And I would go as far as saying that it was a little unbelievable that the same kind of man wrote Lolita. His genius was apparent from a young age and he was sort of aware of it.
What I learned / re-learned about Nabokov in this book:
• Nabokov and his mother had synesthesia. He also loved his mother very much.
• Nabokov dedicated all his works to his wife Vera.
• Nabokov had two sisters and two brothers. He was never close to his brother Sergey due to their opposite interests. Sergey died during WWII in a camp and he never talked much about his other siblings.
• Nabokov was a lepidopterist. As a young teen, he was determined to discover a new specie of moth / butterfly and have it named after him. There was a funny anecdote filled with sarcasm, rejection, and condescension at a time when he thought he discovered a new specie.
• Nabokov's father opposed death penalty, communism, and fascism. He was killed by an assassin at a political conference.
• Nabokov's Uncle Ruka bequeathed his Rozhdestveno estate to him.
* Lolita
* Pnin
* Laughter in the Dark
* Despair
Evocative and worthwhile, Nabokov's autobiographical memoir, Speak, Memory, told of his fondest, most unforgettable childhood memories, his family's situation during the second world war and then bits and pieces of being grateful in having his son and wife Vera (addressed as 'you' throughout). Of course, this was a condensed summary from me and it didn't do this magnificent memoir justice. Indeed, the book almost felt like listening to your favorite grandfather's stories while sitting at a dining table for dinner.
Brought up in an affluent family, Nabokov told of his governess, private tutors, and education, his French, German, and English lessons, and of his family tree — a string of unfamiliar relatives and relatives familiar enough to have had made quite an impression on him; one of his uncles, eccentric Uncle Ruka, was the most memorable for me and he recounted him movingly yet without harmful bias and, curiously, some detachment.
I have never really thought of Nabokov the Writer versus Nabokov the Student / Nabokov the Son / Nabokov the Lepidopterist. He was just plain Nabokov to me but after reading Speak, Memory I admired him more than ever not only with what he's famous for but also as a human being. He had lived a life, although unknown to me, like how many of us live our own: with struggles, with regrets, with passion, and with this desire to shelf every doting (even the worst I must say) memory in the banks of our minds. Speak, Memory did not talk about much about his bibliography and focused mostly on his earliest memories and his re-visits of them years later which provided endings. He also referred of his present life with Vera in an unusual style as if separating it from the past. Definitely a delightful, wonderful autobiography on his life as I saw him now in a different light. And I would go as far as saying that it was a little unbelievable that the same kind of man wrote Lolita. His genius was apparent from a young age and he was sort of aware of it.
What I learned / re-learned about Nabokov in this book:
• Nabokov and his mother had synesthesia. He also loved his mother very much.
• Nabokov dedicated all his works to his wife Vera.
• Nabokov had two sisters and two brothers. He was never close to his brother Sergey due to their opposite interests. Sergey died during WWII in a camp and he never talked much about his other siblings.
• Nabokov was a lepidopterist. As a young teen, he was determined to discover a new specie of moth / butterfly and have it named after him. There was a funny anecdote filled with sarcasm, rejection, and condescension at a time when he thought he discovered a new specie.
• Nabokov's father opposed death penalty, communism, and fascism. He was killed by an assassin at a political conference.
• Nabokov's Uncle Ruka bequeathed his Rozhdestveno estate to him.
* Lolita
* Pnin
* Laughter in the Dark
* Despair
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Reading Progress
February 15, 2018
– Shelved
September 3, 2018
–
Started Reading
September 8, 2018
–
37.31%
"I discovered in nature the nonutilitarian delights that I sought in art. Both were a form of magic, both were a game of intricate enchantment and deception."
page
100
September 9, 2018
–
Finished Reading
