Nabokov in America
Page 42
74 “our native West”: DBDV, 357, March 30, 1958.
75 fabulously valuable and rare sports cars: Roger Boylan, “Dmitri Nabokov, Car Guy,” Autosavant, November 2009, http://www.autosavant.com/2009/11/24/dmitri-nabokov-car-guy; Boylan, “Dmitri Nabokov, Car Guy: Take Two” Autosavant, 2010, http://www.autosavant.com/2010/04/15/dmitri-nabokov-car-guy-take-two.
76 Ping-Pong: D.N., “Close Calls,” 320.
77 working all along for the CIA: Dmitry Minchenok, http://sputniknews.com/voiceofrussia//2012_02_28/67099376/.
78 “dangerously shifting to the left”: Ibid.
79 An American friend: Interview with Barbara Victor, May 30, 2012. The author filed Freedom of Information Act requests with the CIA, among other agencies, and his appeal of the CIA’s unforthcoming responses resulted in a declaration by the Agency Release Panel that, “with respect to records that would reveal a classified connection between the subject of your request and the CIA, if any, the ARP determined that, in accordance with Section 3.6 (a) of Executive Order 13526, the CIA can neither confirm nor deny the existence or nonexistence of records responsive to your request.” CIA letter to author, August 28, 2013, Reference: F–2013–00275.
80 never told his father: Minchenok.
81 “with new priorities”: “Close Calls,” 320.
82 “a faster Ferrari”: Ibid.
83 multiday races in the Mediterranean: Schlesinger, “Journey Down the Tyrrhenian.”
84 “My dearest!”: SL, 353. Dmitri was sometimes called “Lolito” in the Italian press. He appeared in a movie and lent his name and Milan apartment to a casting competition for a young actress to play Lolita. “My father [happened] upon a magazine photo of the bevy of ‘finalists’ surrounding me on my oversized, satin-covered bed,” Dmitri wrote, and cabled the command, “STOP LOLITA PUBLICITY IMMEDIATELY.” “Close Calls,” 313. In Ada, the character Van Veen is a lanky playboy seducer; there is a suggestion of his singing lieder, as Dmitri did on Russische Lieder, an LP produced in Vienna in ’74. Ada seems dated in part, with milieus vaguely out of Playboy magazine; Lolita does not seem dated.
85 secret handshakes from the author: Booth, 300–9.
86 “Pushkin’s critical acumen”: EO, vol. 2, 154.
87 “languorous”: Ibid., 382.
88 “Good old Sylvia!”: PF, 248.
89 the books of his American period: There is also a persuasive, verifiable Russian reality in Speak, Memory.
90 “its heat … the painful comedy of family relations in general”: Dupee, “Introduction.”
91 an experiment: Berg. N. read An Experiment with Time but also consulted Gerald Whitrow’s The Natural Philosophy of Time. Boyd 2, 487.
92 most unnerving instance: There is no real evidence of Dunne’s precognition provided in his book; readers are convinced, rather, by his clubby gentleman’s tone of probity. N. borrowed from Dunne his perspicacity in reporting fugitive mental states.
93 “common features of my dreams”: Berg. N. also wrote a personal dream typology.
94 “Am coming down steps”: Berg, dream recorded December 4, 1964. In ’67, N. recorded another dream of Wilson: “Odd dream: somebody on the stairs behind me takes me by the elbows. E.W. Jocular reconciliation.” Boyd 2, 499.
95 Nabokov bursts into tears: Berg, notes for “Speak On, Memory.”
96 remains levelheaded: N. censors sex, too, recording in this vein only “Several dreams one of them keenly erotic, replay (for perhaps the five hundredth time) with perfect freshness a fugue of my early youth.” Berg, dream of October 14, 1964, 8:30 AM. And on December 13: “Interesting erotic dream. Blood on a sheat.” Berg.
INDEX
Note: page numbers in italics refer to images. Those followed by n refer to notes, with note number for endnotes.
academic career. See also Cornell University; lecture tours (1942); Stanford University
influence on Nabokov, (1)
lectures during first months in U.S., (1)
Nabokov on, (1), (2)
Nabokov’s plans for, (1)
teaching/lecturing style, (1), (2), (3), (4), (5)n
Acmeists, influence on Nabokov, (1), (2)
Ada (Nabokov)
echoes of Dmitri Nabokov in, (1)n
geography of, (1)
quality of, (1)
sexual passages in, (1)
Updike on, (1)n
writing of, (1), (2), (3)
affairs
echoes of in fiction, (1)
marriage and, (1), (2)n
Agee, James, (1)
Aldanov, Mark, (1), (2), (3)n, (4)n, (5)n
Alice in Wonderland (Carroll), Nabokov’s translation of, (1)
Allen, Frederick Lewis, (1)
Alta Lodge (Utah), (1), (2), (3), (4)
America
European views on, (1)
influence on Nabokov, (1), (2), (3)
mystery underlying, in Nabokov’s fiction, (1), (2), (3)
Nabokov on bright intellectual future of, (1)
Nabokov on old-fashionedness of, (1), (2)
Nabokov’s acculturation to, (1), (2)
Nabokovs’ departure from, (1)
Nabokov’s early interest in, (1), (2), (3), (4)
Nabokovs’ experience of through son, (1)
Nabokovs’ fondness for, (1), (2), (3)
Nabokovs’ life in, Véra’s overview of, (1)
and Nabokov’s style, (1), (2)n
Promethean dreams inspired by, (1)
unrest of 1960s, Nabokovs on, (1)
zeitgeist of in Nabokov and Salinger, (1), (2)
America, Nabokovs’ move to. See also English language, Nabokov’s transition to
arrival in New York, (1)
cost of tickets for, (1), (2), (3)
decline of literary production following, (1)
Véra on, (1)
invitation from Stanford and, (1)
models for, (1)
motives for, (1), (2)
Nabokov’s education as preparation, (1), (2), (3)
repayment of ticket cost, (1)
ship voyage, (1), (2), (3)n, (4)n
studies of U.S. prior to, (1), (2)n
visas, complexity of getting, (1), (2)n, (3)
American literature
captivity narratives in, (1), (2)
conscious literary echoes in, (1), (2)n
D. H. Lawrence on, (1)
echoes of in Lolita, (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7), (8)
influence on Nabokov, (1), (2)
lurid streak in, (1)
mystery underling reality in, (1)
Nabokov’s affinities with, (1)
Nabokov’s contribution to, (1)
Nabokov’s familiarity with, (1), (2)n, (3), (4)n
Nabokov’s lecture-tour letters (1942) and, (1)
Nabokov’s views on, (1), (2)n, (3)
and obscenity laws, (1)
sexual frankness in, (1)
spiritual dimension of reality in, (1), (2)n
American Museum of Natural History
credentials provided to Nabokov, (1), (2)
Nabokov’s donations of butterflies to, (1), (2)
Nabokov’s publications on butterflies and, (1)
Nabokov’s visits to, (1)
Americans
as restless travelers, (1)
and spiritual aspect of mountain climbing, (1)
Nabokov’s friendships with ordinary, (1), (2)
Amis, Martin, (1)n
Andrews, Roy Chapman, (1)n
anti-Semitism
of mid-20th century English language authors, (1)
Nabokovs’ U.S. experience of, (1)
Véra’s alertness to, (1)n
appearance of Nabokov, (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6)n
Appel, Alfred Jr., (1)
Arizona, Nabokovs’ visits to, (1), (2), (3). See also Grand Canyon
artists, immortal, Nabokov on, (1)
Atlantic Monthly, (1), (2), (3), (4), (5)
automobile culture of U.S.
Nabokovs’ acculturation and, (1)
and rise of motor courts, (1)
Yosemite National Park and, (1), (2)n, (3)
automobiles owned by Nabokovs, (1), (2), (3), (4)n
Nabokov’s habit of writing in, (1)
segmentation of time using, (1)
Avinoff, Andrey, (1), (2), (3), (4)n
Banks, Nathan, (1), (2)
Beach, Sylvia, (1), (2)
Beilis, Mendel, (1), (2)
Bend Sinister (Nabokov)
anticipations of Lolita in, (1)
blended setting of, (1)
complexity of style in, (1)
criticisms of, (1), (2), (3), (4)
income from, (1)
later Nabokov introduction to, (1)
modernism and, (1), (2)
Nabokov on theme of, (1)
Nabokov’s distance from evil in, (1)
Nabokov’s exhaustion after writing, (1)
off-putting elements of, (1)
plot of, (1)
as political novel, (1)
publication of, (1), (2), (3), (4)
quality of, (1)
successful portions of, (1)
vulnerability of childhood as theme in, (1)
Wilson and, (1), (2), (3), (4), (5)
writing of, (1), (2), (3), (4)n
Berberova, Nina, (1), (2)
Berkman, Sylvia, (1), (2), (3)n, (4)n
Berlin, Isaiah, (1)
Berlin, Nabokovs in
danger to family, (1), (2), (3)
flight, (1), (2), (3)
literary success, (1)
poverty, (1)
social life, (1)
biographers of Nabokov, (1)
Bishop, Alison, (1), (2)
Bishop, John Peale, (1)
Bishop, Morris, (1), (2), (3)
Bliven, Bruce, (1), (2)
Bolshevism, Nabokovs’ hatred of, (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6)
Borges, Jorge Luis, (1)
Bowles, Paul, (1)n
Boyd, Brian
on American influence on Nabokov, (1)
on Bend Sinister, (1)
on Edmund Wilson, (1)
on excellent discussion of the novels, (1)n
on impact of father’s death on Nabokov, (1)
on Jannelli, (1)
on Nabokov’s interest in young girls, (1)n
on Pale Fire, (1)
on Quilty’s play in Lolita, (1)
on unknowability of other people, (1)
works by, (1)
Brecht, Bertold, (1), (2)n
Breit, Harvey, (1)
Bright Angel Lodge, Grand Canyon National Park, (1)
Brockway, Wallace, (1)
Buckley, William F., (1)
Bunin, Ivan, (1), (2)
Burroughs, William, (1)
butterflies, Nabokov’s study of. See also American Museum of Natural History; Museum of Comparative Zoology (Harvard)
achievements in, (1)
appeal of, (1)
appetite for detail and, (1)
area of specialization in, (1)
as boy in Russia, (1), (2)
and comfort of familiar English scientific jargon, (1), (2)
decline of in late 1940s, (1)
as dream career, (1), (2)
friends and colleagues in, (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7)n
Nabokov’s publications on, (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6)
during success of Lolita, (1), (2)
transition from gentleman naturalist to scientist, (1), (2), (3)
butterfly collecting by Nabokov
affinity with American literature and, (1)
as boy in Russia, (1), (2)
in Colorado, (1), (2), (3), (4)
desire to discover new species, (1)
in Europe, (1)
familiarity with U.S. collection sites, (1)
in France, (1)
and interest in America, (1), (2), (3)
in Kansas, (1)
during lecture tours (1942), (1)
and mountains, benefits of, (1)
during New York–California drive (1941), (1), (2), (3), (4)
pleasures of, (1), (2), (3), (4), (5)
Speak, Memory on, (1), (2)
at Stanford, (1)
in Utah, (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6)
in Vermont, (1)
Western travel and, (1), (2), (3), (4)n
in Wyoming, (1), (2), (3), (4)
in Yosemite National Park, (1)
“Butterfly Collecting in Wyoming” (Nabokov), (1)
Buxbaum, Richard, (1)
Byron, Lord, (1), (2), (3), (4)n
Call It Sleep (Roth), (1)n
Cambridge, Massachusetts. See also Harvard University; Museum of Comparative Zoology (Harvard)
Dmitri’s education in, (1)
Nabokovs’ homes in, (1), (2), (3), (4)
Nabokovs’ social life in, (1)
Camera Obscura (Nabokov), (1). See also Laughter in the Dark (Nabokov)
captivity narratives in American literature, (1), (2)
Caswell, Francis, (1)
caves, as U.S. roadside attractions, (1)
SS Champlain (ship), (1), (2), (3)n
character of Nabokov
arrogance, (1), (2)
boyishness, (1)
business matters, lack of interest in, (1)n
cruelty, (1), (2)
egoism, (1)
enjoyment in famous people, (1)
force of will, (1)
friendships with ordinary people, (1)
generosity, (1)
remoteness, (1), (2)n
running down of other writers, (1)n, (2), (3), (4)n
self-confidence, (1), (2)
sententiousness, (1)
superciliousness and condescension, (1), (2), (3)
Chauteaubriand, (1)
Chernyshevsky, Nikolai, (1)
“Cloud, Castle, Lake” (Nabokov), (1)
Cocteau, Jean, (1)
Colorado, Nabokovs in
in 1947, (1), (2), (3)
in 1951, (1)
and Lolita, writing of, (1), (2)
and pleasure in isolation, (1)
sense of déjà vu in, (1)
colors,
Nabokov as synesthete and, (1)
Russian speakers more discerning of blue, (1)
Colter, Mary E. J., (1), (2), (3)
Columbine Lodge, Colorado, (1), (2), (3)
compulsion
and butterfly collecting, (1)
as theme in Nabokov, (1)n, (2)
Comstock, William P., (1), (2), (3), (4), (5)
Conclusive Evidence (Nabokov). See Speak, Memory (Nabokov)
Constant, Benjamin, (1)
Cooper, James Fenimore, (1), (2)
Cornell University, Nabokov at
Dmitri Nabokov and, (1)
duration of, (1)
as financial relief, (1), (2)
friends and colleagues, (1), (2)n
hiring of, (1)
last class taught, (1)
leaves of absence from, (1), (2), (3), (4)n
literary production during, (1), (2)
Nabokovs’ happiness at, (1)
Nabokovs’ homes in, (1), (2), (3)
and Pale Fire, setting of, (1)
role in community, (1)
salary, (1), (2), (3), (4)n
search for other positions, (1)
and student unrest, (1)
teaching duties, (1)
Covici, Pascal, (1), (2), (3), (4)
critical literature on Nabokov, (1)
Dale, Edith Hamlin, (1)
Dead Souls (Gogol), Nabokov’s translation of, (1), (2)
Decision (periodical), (1)
The Defense (Nabokov), (1), (2)
Dennis, Nigel, (1)
Despair (Nabokov), (1), (2), (3), (4), (5)
detail, Nabokov’s appetite for, (1), (2)
and Eugene Onegin, (1), (2), (3), (4)n176
–77
and Lolita, (1), (2)
and reality, mystery underlying, (1)
writing style and, (1)
Dickinson, Emily, (1)
Disappointment Peak, Wyoming, (1), (2), (3)n
Dixon, Maynard, (1), (2)
Dobuzhinsky, Mstislav, (1), (2), (3)
Doctor Zhivago (Pasternak), (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7)n
Dostoevsky, Fyodor, (1), (2), (3), (4)
Downey, John, (1), (2)
dreams, Nabokov’s records of, (1)
driving tour, New York to California (1941), (1), (2)
accommodations, (1), (2)
butterfly collecting and, (1), (2), (3), (4)
daily routine of, (1)
Dmitri Nabokov and, (1), (2)
Dorothy Leuthold and, (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6)
itinerary for, (1)
road conditions and, (1)
sites visited, (1), (2), (3), (4)
tacky U.S. landscape and, (1)
vehicle for, (1)
driving tour of New York (1948), (1)
driving tours of Western U.S., (1), (2)
in 1949, (1), (2)n
in 1951
butterfly collecting during, (1)
and research for Lolita, (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6), (7)n
in 1952, (1)
in 1953, (1)
in 1954, (1)
in 1956, (1)
in 1958, (1), (2)
in 1959, (1), (2)
in 1972, hoped-for final trip, (1)
author’s retracing of, (1)
happiness of Nabokov family during, (1)
Nabokov’s affinity for, (1)
as postwar American pastime, (1)
Véra’s documentation of, (1)
Dr. Strangelove (film), (1)
Du Bois, W. E. B., (1), (2)n, (3)n
Dunne, J. W., (1), (2)
Dupee, F. W., (1), (2), (3)n
Eastman, Max, (1)
economic concerns of Nabokov in America, (1), (2)
in Cambridge, (1)
Cornell teaching job and, (1), (2)
cost of Dmitri’s education and, (1)
cost of Western trips and, (1)
Nabokov’s complaints about, (1)
relief from, after 1946, (1)
triumph over, as inspirational, (1)
economic concerns of Nabokov in Europe, (1), (2), (3), (4), (5)
efforts to downplay, (1)
lost inheritance and, (1)
Edel, Leon, (1)
education of Nabokov
at Cambridge University, (1)
depth of, (1)
and relocation to U.S., (1), (2), (3)
Eliot, T. S., (1), (2), (3), (4), (5), (6)n
Ellis, Charles, (1)
Ellis, Havelock, (1)
Emerson, Ralph Waldo, (1), (2), (3), (4)