Think, Write, Speak

Think, Write, Speak: Uncollected Essays, Reviews, Interviews, and Letters to the Editor by Vladimir Nabokov

The strength of this collection of miscellaneous writings is the purely chronological arrangement. This provides an "unfiltered" biography of Nabokov. During his lifetime, he published another collection (Strong Opinions). This work is the "leftovers" that he chose not to include in that one. Some of the writings are pretty much junk, but there are some gems in there. I found myself rapidly skimming through much of the early writings. In the middle I became engage, and then the interest started waning towards the end.

The book starts with works by an obscure Russian writer who had fled the Bolshevik revolution. Many of the "works" are reviews of obscure Russian works or obituaries for now unknown Russians. It is very difficult to stay interested in the work. There are hints of strong opinions and stubbornness. He has no love for Freud or the Russian Communists. He likes "good writing", but hasn't really come into style of his own.

In the middle, he has left Europe for America. You can see how pedantic he is in some of the letters to the editor requiring minor corrections. Some gems of essays appear here, such as one on learning the Russian language. Then Lolita becomes popular. He loves his work, but tries to appear surprised at the popularity. Some of his "Crotchety Old Man" views start to come out. He doesn't like hippies. He sees men as stronger than women. He doesn't care much for what others think. He also loves butterflies (and has a few "butterfly" interviews included.

In the end, he seems to just get tired of it all. There are a number of interviews where he says almost nothing. Many of the same questions are asked in multiple interviews. His acerbic manner finally starts to tone down shortly before his death. The questions about what language he thinks in are telling. At first his response is that "nobody thinks in words, it is all images". Eventually, he comes to say that he thinks in images. (Though he still criticizes those who mouth words as they read.) I'd almost be ready to diagnose him with mild Aspergers. He states numerous times that he expects to get back to America, but he never seemed to make it.