pontalba

I read Speak, Memory a few months back, but you know how it is, the details fade as time goes on, so I am rereading, or rescanning at any rate. One of the things I think most people don't realize about Nabokov is the fact that he actually could read and write English before his native Russian. That fact has gotten lost, and everyone marvels at his beautiful and fluid prose especially as they think English is not his native language. Well, it isn't his native language, but it did precede his native Russian. Phew! If any of that makes any sense. Anyhow it is brought out on p.28 that The "his/he" in that quote referrs to VN's father.Plus the time was the summer of 1905...Nabokov was born in April of 1899.

Something I appreciated about Speak, Memory was the way Nabokov brought out his love for his family without exposing everything private about them. He manages to give wonderfully detailed images, but not invade their privacy. Of course VN was such a private person himself, so of course would be protective of The Family privacy. But by the end of the book, the reader has a very good picture of VN and his family.

The thing I appreciated about the circular bit was that it seems to me that life is like that in general...it (life) seems to have a symmetrical balance to it, and Nabokov is able to express that in the most beautiful way. But all of his books are like that. At least the ones that I have read balance out in the end. Not always to one's liking, but balance all the same.

I so love the way that right off the bat VN brings out his undying hatred for all things Freud. Ouch! Nabokov loves to bring things to a complete circle, as on p.27 the matches. Nabokov connects incident when he was a child still in St. Petersburg...a General Kuropatkin made an amusing game with matches (not lit ) to a time 15 years later when VN's father was fleeing Russia and he happened to meet the General who asked him for a light. The matches. The magic ones shown that disappeared as a child, and the armies of the General that disappeared as well. Nabokov says this about it. And that is exactly what VN does in his autobiography.

Good French Bread and seafood

If you like it, the solution is simple...buy it , if you don't like it ..thats the end of that.

Oh!, Now I want to buy that version! As though I needed to buy another book! 8-) I only have the Vintage edition with the foreword by Nabokov himself. It sounds wonderful! But Brian Boyd is so marvelous for...I don't want to say "interpreting" Nabokov...but it almost amounts to the same thing. Anyone that is interested in learning more about VN would do well to find copies of Vladimir Nabokov, The Russian Years and Vladimir Nabokov, The American Years. Each one chronicles Nabokov's life, but obviously the two major sections of that life. Plus Boyd gives details of Nabokov's writing of his novels, the difficulties of selling same, and results of publicity both personally and professionally. All of this was written with Nabokov's approval and help. I have both books, and while if you buy the first copy you come across, they are expensive, but be patient, and Powell's every so often has a wonderful sale copy. Trade paperback. Now VN says in the foreword: I like the bit about "geographically" arranged. And in a way it is systematic, but systematic implies sterile order (to me at any rate) and there is nothing sterile about this autobiography. Now everyone has heard of St. Petersburg, but I at least had not heard of St. Nazaire, so that was a sort of mysterious and romantic place to end up, how did he end up there? We'll see.

Ah...'tis a heavy burden... As for me....blame Muggle not. :shock: :angel:

Muggle, I wondered if you'd moved yet or not. LOL I've said the next move I make all I'll bring are the books, computer and bed. Period. Everything else, Garage Sale! And don't go and short out all the machinery at that hospital! Dogmatix, Good. I have to refresh my memory anyhow, its been a few months since I finished it. Paul, Glad you checked in again. I thought maybe we could concentrate on a chapter at the time. Just to consider, and keep it straight. If anyone has any other/different ideas on a method go ahead and post it. OK? And, er....Sophiaaaaaa...........h-e-l-l-o-o-o-o-o-o-oooooo 8-)

I saw this book in the second hand store today, but I didn't care for the synopsis on the back so have passed for now. They had three of hers/theirs I think, but none really appealed to me. Honestly, I thought they were rather blood thirsty.

Michelle, What happened to the other posts in the thread? I don't think anyone else has read it as of yet.

Malevil by Robert Merle Written 1972 and translated from the original French in 1973. Although written in the early 70's, there is nothing dated about this tale of survival under the worst conditions possible visited on the planet. Most are familiar with this sort of novel. Odd pockets of civilization survive the ultimate destruction. A battle that gives no warning, no vibes at all. There were no preparations to make, because Who Knew?, which is probably the most..."democratic" way to begin. With people that happened to be together in a safe place at the right time. Very little of the story is devoted to the Before Time. We are given snipets of information about the participants in the survival, but the greatest part of the book is dedicated to the emotional, physical, and yes, the spiritual survival of the members. And I use the word 'members' very seriously. These people are members of the new civilization, a civilization that must be very careful in the directions it takes and the choices it makes as well as the battles it must fight. The main protagonist Emmanuel is one of the strongest characters I have encountered in fiction. It is his personality that makes the book work IMO. His courage and decency form the pattern of the new path they must travel. And yes, it is a love story as well, although not in the way you'd think. This book is in the top ten of my favorites of all time, I have reread it.....I don't really know how many times. Just recently I've begun it again, and was surprised. How many "end of the world" books do you know that begin with an analysis of Proust's madeline scene? I'd not attempted Proust the last time I read this book, so I had my laugh out loud moment, and sigh for the day. This book has all the ingredients...mystery, love, battle scenes and intrigue and yes, sadness and longing as well. One of the few books that no matter how many times I read it, there are still scenes that can bring tears to my eyes. So, if you can find this book, buy it and enjoy!

8-) Sounds like a good plan to me. Muggle? Anyone else?

Dogmatix, Its true what you have said about Lolita, but Speak, Memory is fairly straight forward compared to Lolita. Nabokov is not ambiguous here as in his novels. The prose is beautiful...my signature line here is the first line of Speak, Memory. In my review, when I spoke of his not sharing his entire relationships with his family with his reader, I meant that, not ambiguity. Nabokov was, in spite of using his life and surroundings in his novels, an intensely private person, and only went to a point in sharing same. There is a section near the beginning that he goes into some history of his family that, for some is hard to get through, but it all has its place in the biography, and is necessary. All in all, if you enjoyed the structure and prose in Lolita this is a safe bet. Plus hand-holding is always available.

Yes, Muggle, this is it. Its a lovely read. And yes, I have to say that Jane Eyre is one of my earliest favorite books ever. I can't count the number of times I've reread it.

"Lolita, light of my life, fire of my loins. My sin, my soul. Lo-lee-ta: the tip of the tongue taking a trip of three steps down the palate to tap, at three, on the teeth. Lo. Le. Ta. She was Lo, plain Lo, in the morning, standing four feet ten in one sock. She was Lola in slacks. She was Dolly at achool. She was Dolores on the dotted line. But in my arms she was always Lolita." Humbert the Horrible. Yes he was horrible. Horrible for the pain and theft of life he visited on Lolita, horrible to himself for the destruction of his own life. Horrible to his first wife, and Charlotte. Ah Charlotte, without whom none of the story could have happened. Selfish Charlotte, Curious Lolita. Innocent Lolita. And in the end.....well, that would be telling. The first time I read "Lolita" I did have a difficult time getting through the book. I was so outraged at.........everything and everybody in the story. Then upon dissection the reader is able to begin seeing underneath the layers of the story. There is a quote on the front cover of my copy from Vanity Fair, it says "The only convincing love story of our century." I am still not sure if I agree with that or not, but I do know this--it is a love story, and a story that will rip your heart right out, and ultimately a story of freedom. The pursuit of freedom at any cost. I cannot recommend this book highly enough.

Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov Even the name of this wonderfully lyrical autobiography is commanding. Speak! And speak it does. Of love, of loss, of finding a new life and being able to leap to safety to embrace it. But......Love....more than anything is what Vladimir Nabokov's partial autobiography resonates with. His enduring and all encompassing love for his family. The living and the dead. It only covers 37 of his 77 years, but what a 37 years it was! St. Petersburg to Cambridge, Berlin and Paris to America. The book ends with his sighting of the ship that will carry Nabokov and his little family to America and safety. The safety that so many were not able for so many terrible reasons to find themselves, including members of his own family. Nabokov does not give a blow-by-blow account of his life, but in vignettes that 'speak' of his life, and his family's life. He tells the story of his courageous father and the battles for a democratically styled Russia, the powerful personality of his beloved mother, his tragic brother....all is exposed, yet not. The story of his life with V

Muggle not Seriously neat! 1. I don't remember a time I couldn't read. 2. I keep my fingernails short. 3. I'm fascinated by Ancient Rome 4. Now that I am "of a certain age" I couldn't care less about wearing high heels. 5. Love digging in the ancient family albums and finding goodies.

I have two of her books. Zorro and Daughters of Fortune, and stalled on both. I bought DoF first, and read maybe a quarter of it before giving up. I thought Zorro would be more to my taste, haveing grown up on the old TV series and the movies, but no dice. It is possible that it was my mood at the time or whatever, barometric pressure might have been off....but I will try again. But not right this minute.

Enjoyment is the name of the Game. 8-)

As far as any political bios or autobios, I have read both of the Clinton books. But I also have to admit, I skipped most of the political stuff, I'm not interested in that part. I just enjoyed reading about their lives apart from that. Those are the only ones though.

1. Pack Rat. (already confessed in another thread) 2. Only child, only grandchild. (I know, explains a lot ) 3. Love to talk on the phone. (anywhere really) 4. Love cats and dogs. (the word "sucker" must be carved in my forehead) 5. Will not suffer Fools gladly. (or at all for that matter)

:agreed: Forgot about them.

Yeah, it is interesting. As for what I won't read...I don't like Stephen King. I tried to start IT three times, and always got bogged down a few pages in. I have read a few others of his, but that one was it for me. Hah, no pun intended. Bios were mentioned above, I like some...Speak, Memory Vladimir Nabokov's autobio was fascinating, and I have some more around here that I have dabbled in, and enjoy. Bette Davis, John Nash, and two of Virginia Woolf. I think reading an authors bio helps in understanding their work. I don't like true crime though, it is way too explicit and gory for my taste, and I don't read too much sci-fi, and don't care for fantasy at all.

Only if you share.