Book Review of Vladimir Nabokov's 'Speak, Memory'

‘Speak Memory’ is Nabokov’s memoir of his early life. It is subtitled ‘An Autobiography Revisited’ because each of the chapters was originally a magazine article as he explains in the foreword. These articles were written over a period of several years and when they were ‘revisited’ he made changes and corrections. Each chapter deals with a main topic which explores a particular memory. However, the chapters are not linked together into a fluent narrative which can make it difficult to follow.

Nabokov’s autobiography is a challenging read. The style is distinctive and often poetic but the sentences are exhaustingly long and the vocabulary is highly sophisticated. He includes vocabulary from a whole range of semantic fields, such as, science, literature, politics and nature and some phrases are in French or Russian.

A main theme of his autobiography is Memory itself. The title ‘Speak, Memory’ is expressed as a command as if he is urging his memory to recall significant moments in his life. In chapter 7 he states that he is aiming for precision in memory and he pushes himself until he recalls the name of the dog that he has forgotten. In chapter 8 he discusses ‘the supreme achievement of memory’ which appears to mean the way it brings together disjointed images into a harmonious whole. This description continues for a page of densely poetic writing describing images, movements and sounds to create an almost cinematic image. This style of writing contrasts with chapter three which mostly consists of a list of his family members and their brief biographies.

Parts of this book are frustratingly difficult to follow but Nabokov’s poetic use of language often compensates for this.