Vladimir Nabokov
Vladimir Nabokov
Vladimir Vladimirovich Nabokov, also known by the pen name Vladimir Sirin; 22 April 1899c – 2 July 1977) was a Russian-American novelist. His first nine novels were in Russian, and he achieved international prominence after he began writing English prose...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionNovelist
Date of Birth23 April 1899
CitySaint Petersburg, Russia
CountryUnited States of America
aesthetic affords art call connected exists fiction insofar shall states work
For me, a work of fiction exists only insofar as it affords me what I shall bluntly call aesthetic bliss, that is a sense of being somehow, somewhere, connected with other states of being where art (curiosity, tenderness, kindness, ecstasy) is the norm.
love memories thinking
I think it is all a matter of love: the more you love a memory, the stronger and stranger it is.
obsolete reverse
The future is but the obsolete in reverse.
strong spring land
Nostalgia in reverse, the longing for yet another strange land, grew especially strong in spring.
adults premature fierceness
We loved each other with a premature love, marked by a fierceness that so often destroys adult lives.
yesterday names foul
Our best yesterdays are now foul piles of crumpled names.
heart broke my-heart
He broke my heart. You merely broke my life.
writing sitting-still reactions
It is a singular reaction, this sitting still and writing, writing, writing, or ruminating at length, which is much the same, really.
sleep night insomnia
He was afraid of touching his own wrist. He never attempted to sleep on his left side, even in those dismal hours of the night when the insomniac longs for a third side after trying the two he has.
regions
Nymphets do not occur in polar regions.
writing sheep reader
Readers are not sheep, and not every pen tempts them.
fairy-tale tales novel
All great novels are great fairy tales.
responsibility answers doe
My answer to your question'Does the writer have a social responsibility?' is NO.You owe me ten cents, sir.
thousand paraphrase prettiest
The clumsiest literal translation is a thousand times more useful than the prettiest paraphrase.