Nabokov, metadata and civil liberties
“I wanted to be a famous spy.”—Humbert Humbert Vladimir Nabokov disdained most novels as “topical trash” and sought to create something transcendent in his own fiction. Yet topics dominating this month’s news about Edward Snowden—government surveillance, political intrigue, and spying—are oddly timeless when it comes to looking at Nabokov’s world. Growing up in the twilight […]
Nabokov’s wartime escape on the SS Champlain
When Vladimir Nabokov crossed from Europe to America on the SS Champlain in May 1940, he was accompanied by his wife Véra and son Dmitri. I’ve already posted Vladimir’s and Véra’s immigration files. Today I want to share the ship’s passenger record for their trip on the Champlain. In a detail from the first of two pages […]
Speak, playthings: Nabokov’s synesthesia and memory
For some people, sound has taste. Vladimir Nabokov saw the alphabet in color. Both are examples of synesthesia, in which a person experiences a second, paired sensation accompanying an initial different kind of sensory input. A study out last month in Psychological Science suggests that though it is possible synesthesia is hardwired into individuals, many […]
