32. Vladimir Nabokov (Overlook Illustrated Lives)]by Jane Grayson
published: 2001
format: 140-page hardcover
acquired: May
read: June 1-8
time reading: 4 hr 0 min, 1.7 min/page
rating: 4
locations: St. Petersburg, Cambridge, Berlin, Paris, Wellesley College, Cornell, Montreux, Switzerland, etc.
about the author as of publication, was a Lecturer in Russian at the School of Slavonic and East European Studies, University of London.

"What a curious literary figure. Exceptionally cultured and well-read as an upperclass teenager in St Petersburg, marched through history, exiled by the Russian revolution, lost his father to assassination, fled from Hitler‘s Germany, and he responded by remaining aloof and focused on literature where, despite changing languages, he was outsized in his confidence. This is a nicely written short bio, full of great photos."

That was my Litsy review, 251 characters or less. And this book is a nicely written short biography, a life of contrast between one caught in the spokes of history and mostly emotionally aloof from any politics. He was an odd character, but he was human. His writing pines for things lost without any of the drama. He captures in detail his family's country house outside Russia, or his Russian girlfriend, left behind, in some of his writing. Actually, what really caught my attention here was how much of his life is reflected in the books I've already read. The main character in [Glory] is actually Nabokov, even when he plays goalie in Cambridge, or works as a tennis trainer in Berlin, or studies Russian, his own language.

A short book like this just gives you glimpses. So, while Grayson writes a lot about what went into his Russian novel, [The Gift], and the efforts he put into [Lolita] (which he tried to publish anonymously), almost every other book he wrote gets just a mention, barely. So, she captures a bit of his childhood privilege and culture. His parents owned thousands of books in many languages and he read more as teenager than at any point later in his life. His father was actually a liberal politician. So, when they left as Russia became the USSR, they didn't even have a side in the Russian civil war of monarchists and communists. He father was assassinated by emigre monarchists (although he hadn't been their target). And Grayson captures a little of his relationship with his wife, Vera, a Russian emigre who was Jewish. And how Nabokov stayed in Berlin long after the mass of Russia emigres had abandoned its financial crash and fascism. With a Jewish wife and son, he stayed till 1937, having a least one prominent extra-marital affair. And Grayson captures a little of Nabokov's defeat in coming to the US, and of giving up the Russian he had refined so carefully. He was a terrific lecturer in the US, but hated his colleagues, especially in Cornell. As a refined Russian and English writer and Russian/English translator, he had become one of the the foremost English-Russian language experts in the world, and one of the most literary cultured American citizens. Grayson mentions how his writing changed from Russian, where it was careful and precise, to English where it attacked the language, playing with it, making up words. I haven't read anything he wrote in English yet, so that comment was tantalizing. Alas, once [Lolita] was successful (Grayson characterizes it as an attack on America), he bolted teaching and the US. Despite promising to return, he lived the rest of his with his wife in Switzerland. When complimented on his success, after [Lolita], he told one person it should have happened 30 years ago.

A few of Grayson's expressions caught my attention. Explaining his early writing she says, "Nabokov's theme was loss. His medium was memory. His instrument was the Russian language." And she summarizes a speech he gave in Paris, while living in Berlin, “...Nabokov delivered his profession de foi, declaring that the artist‘s duty, no matter how great the temptation to speak out, is to remain aloof from tragic events of his time, ‘even if the clamour of the times, the cries of the murdered victims and the growling of the brute tyrant reach his ears‘.” That political aloofness is a really curious aspect of his life. Even late in his life, he would be criticized for how uninvolved he was in criticizing the Soviet Union's mistreatment of its intellectuals.

Anyway, I got a lot out of these 140 picture-filled pages. I'm ready to read more by him and I'm interested in reading more about him. Seriously thinking about the 2-volume biography by [[Brian Boyd]].

2020
https://www.librarything.com/topic/318836#7185318 ( )

Nice short illustrated bio of Nabokov. ( )

This is a volume in the Overlook Illustrated Lives series. Jane Grayson provides a chronologically organized biographical essay on the life of Vladimir Nabokov. The book is amplified with 127 illustrations which means there is an illustration for literally every page in the book. They range from early pictures in Russia to more contemporary photos that highlight the many facets of Nabokov's career. The chronology of his life and an excellent bibliography make this book a handy reference for readers who enjoy and appreciate the fine work of Vladimir Nabokov. ( )