Summary concepts and applications

Nabokov

In Chapter 10 of Speak, Memory, Nabokov reflects on his cousin Yuri who is described as being "thin, sallow faced" with "luminous gray eyes," (196). Yuri did not like to play with frogs or insects and was squeamish. He also was not into sports. When the two of them were kids, they used to play fight with guns, inspired by the Wild West fantasies that had become popular in Russia. Nabokov describes the games they played with toy guns, before telling the reader that Yuri actually does die in a real-life war, the Crimean War. The cousins came of age together, as twelve-year-old Yuri confesses that he is in love with two married women and had sex with one of them. The story makes Nabokov realize how inexperienced he is in the ways of love. Nabokov describes Zahar, who is his age, and who has a mysterious smile. The two of them cautiously flirt with each other using only their eyes.

Chapter 11 of Speak, Memory begins as Nabokov talks about how he started to write poetry in 1914. He struggles with writing in Russian, as he mainly learned how to compose in English, but he feels compelled to do so and shares his verses with his mother at their home estate at the family estate. Nabokov's self-awareness as a poet grows considerably. Poetry awakens something within him, and it is poetry that stimulates his desire to write more concertedly in general. Nabokov states that all poetry is "positional," in the sense that it is designed to "try to express one's position in regard to the universe embraced by consciousness," (206).

In Chapter 12 of Speak, Memory Nabokov describes Tamara, one of his first and most endearing and formative loves. She has dark hair and eyes and is full figured. He meets Tamara when he is sixteen years old, and she is fifteen. Tamara's family owns a summer cottage (dachka). Nabokov and Tamara play together, and he shows her how to chase butterflies. One of Nabokov's tutors spies on him with a telescope, which angers his mother after she finds out as "she could not tolerate snooping," (220). His mother knows about their relationship and is supportive of her son's social development. Nabokov and Tamara develop a genuinely intimate relationship. He "cannot recall" the way he and Tamara parted, as their families went separate ways, but the two of them stay in touch sporadically.

Chapter 13 of Speak Memory starts as the Nabokov family travels to London from Greece. This is the time young Nabokov begins his higher education, as he and his brother have gotten into Oxford University on scholarship. At this point, Revolution is in swing and the family has been exiled. They have to sell their jewelry to support their children and their own lives in England. Nabokov finds it interesting to meet outsiders who comment on the Russian Revolution as if it were a positive thing. Nabokov takes the time to reflect deeper on his family and especially his brothers. He notes that Sergei could be gay, because he does not talk much and unlike Nabokov, does not talk about girls. His youngest brother is so young that the author claims it was difficult to form a meaningful bond with him.