By way of information, Vladimir wants me to add that his object is not to deprive Olympia of any money (he had offered Olympia to buy back from them the rights in LOLITA but Olympia was not agreeable). V.'s purpose is to sever once and for all a connection which, with the passage of years, proved immeasurably more obnox ious than he had ever expected it to be, both because of Olympia's publications list and because of the character of its owner.
We shall be away from Nice for a few days the week before Easter (probably returning just after Easter) and shall then stay on at the above address until about April 27th.
With kind regards,
Sincerely,
(Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov)
TO: RUST HILLS
CC, 1 p.
57, Prom, des Anglais, Nice
March 23, 1961
Dear Mr. Hills,
I was delighted to receive your kind letter of March 2 which took exactly three weeks to reach me. Yes, I do have that material for you, and since you are brave you might like to consider it. It is a narrative poem of 999 lines in four cantos supposed to be written by an American poet and scholar, one of the characters in my new novel,1 where it will be reproduced and annotated by a madman. The parenthesis I have added for magazine publication at the end of the last canto explains briefly, but I think sufficiently, what the pre-novel reader should know. If you want this poem despite its being rather racy and tricky, and unpleasant, and bizarre, I must ask you to publish all four cantos. The novel is going to take several more months to finish, and there might be some showable parts later on.
Thanks for your fairness in the matter of the Lawrenson article. Yes, I should have howled earlier; my general policy is never to argue with anything written about me but your letter prompted an answer.
I shall be out of town for a few days but my address remains the same till April 25.
Sincerely yours,
Vladimir Nabokov
Poem enclosed.
TO: JACQUELINE STEPHENS1
CC, 1 p.
Nice, France
September 15, 1961
Dear Miss Stephens,
My husband asks me to tell you, in reply to your kind letter of Aug. 22, that he is fairly indifferent to gastronomic matters. However, he detests 1) underdone meat, 2) all inner organs, such as kidneys, brains, liver, tongue, sweetbread, etc., 3) sea food other than fish.
Sincerely yours,
(Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov)
TO: MORRIS AND ALISON BISHOP
TLS, 2 pp. Mrs. Morris Bishop.
Palace Hotel, Montreux
November 4, 1961
Dear Alison and Morris,
We had hoped to hear from you before, or during, or after your Italian trip—we had also hoped to see you on that occasion. Have you been to Italy? Did you have a happy and successful trip? Did Morris find those impressions he was after with regard to his Petrarca book? Has he finished the HISTORY?
We have settled down for the winter in Montreux. The weather here, though mild, is no match for that on the Riviera, but there is much less traffic noise, and also we have found a much more comfortable place to live. Vladimir has been writing steadily, with very few interruptions, since December i960, a book which he had started several years ago. It is almost finished now—and is not like anything either he or anyone else has ever written before. It is absolutely fascinating, I wish I were permitted to say more about it.1
Between Nice and Montreux we spent two months in Italy and two more in the Swiss mountains. But we did not move much around because as soon as we got anywhere Vladimir settled down to write and there was no point in interrupting his writing again. We have a rented Peugeot 404, which took us to Reggio, to Dmitri's debut (which was wonderful), to Modena (where one of his performances took place), then to Stresa, etc. Dmitri sang again in a concert in Milan (Rubinstein's "Demon"), then in Perugia (where we did not go), and again in Milan in September, twice in the Barbiere, where he used Shalyapin's2 make-up and was tremendously acclaimed by the public.
Our plans for the future are a little vague. We extended our return passages till the fall 1962—so I suppose this is when we shall be going back. I shall hate to give up all the comforts of European life, but Vladimir misses the States very much, the language, the general atmosphere, everything, including the American lepidoptera. However, there are certain things right now that make it necessary for him to be in Europe.3
The film LOLITA (everyone tells us it is a "marvellous" picture but we have not yet seen it) has passed the British censorship, so it will certainly be shown in England, Germany, the Scandinavian countries and Italy, and—? This is something that remains to be seen.
The mountains around the lake are covered with snow, but we still were playing tennis last week. The lake is a delight to look at, all kinds of water fowl are arriving for the winter, replacing happily the tourists who are leaving, leaving, have almost all left. We like it here very much.
Please write soon and tell us all about you. What is little Alison doing this year? Will you be much in Ithaca? Has Alison ("big" Alison) painted much, and what? We would love to hear from you.
Much love from us both to you all.
As ever,
V. and V. Nabokov
TO: JENNINGS WOOD1
CC, 1 p.
Palace Hotel
Montreux
December 7, 1961
Dear Mr. Wood,
I am sending you tomorrow the manuscript of a novel, entitled PALE FIRE, which I have just completed, and the typescript of which is being mailed to my publisher in New York.
The manuscript is written in pencil on index cards of which there are about 1075. The book consists of:
Foreword (cards I-XLVII); A narrative poem in four cantos (cards 1–88); A commentary (cards 89–925); And an Index (cards 926–1029).
The commentary is the novel.
The material has been divided into three packages which are being mailed to you by registered airmail, as "commercial papers".
I assume that this material will be treated in the same confidential manner as the papers and manuscripts I sent you before.
I would appreciate if you could let me know that the three batches have safely arrived.
Sincerely yours,
Vladimir Nabokov
TO: STANLEY KUBRICK
CC, 1 p.
Montreux, Switzerland
December 17, 1961
Dear Mr. Kubrick,
Please believe that I have never held you responsible for my not having been shown the picture.
Since you have been so kind to send me that wire, I shall now confess that not only have I been disappointed not to have been the first to see the film, but also not to be kept informed of the general developments. I would have liked to know the tentative date of the general release; whether or not it has received the seal of approval in the US (I know it did in England); who will distribute it in the various countries. It was my plan to attend the premieres in the US1 and in some of the European countries (where, my publishers tell me, this might help the sales of the book of which several new editions are planned); any additional information would have been welcome—and also some stills.
Since I am entitled to a percentage of the profits I would have thought that that kind of information would be sent me as a matter of course. I apologize for putting all this griping in your lap but it is the only lap available to me.
I take this not unpleasant opportunity to wish you and your family, as well as Mr. Harris, a merry Christmas and a happy New Year, and my wife joins her wishes to mine.
Sincerely yours,
Vladimir Nabokov
PS. Please do not forget to return the clippings I sent you from here.2
TO: MORRIS BISHOP
TLS, 1 p. Mrs. Morris Bishop.
Montreux, March 5, 1962
Palace Hotel
Dear Morris,
I have had a busy time but now the yellow-beaked alpine choughs that have been hau
nting our balconies are getting ready to return to their summer quarters high up in the mountains, and Putnam is getting ready to publish my new novel. And I am able to relax a little.
I have greatly enjoyed your review of Ciardi's Dante,1 and the subsequent exchange of letters. I wonder which will come out first—Cornell Press with your History2 or Bollingen with my Onegin. I am in the act of correcting the last proofs. Have you reached that stage? I shall never forget Reynolds'3 huge and absolutely uninhabited desk.
Is the Muse being kind to you? (as my Commentator says in Pale Fire). I saw a wonderful sample in the Saturday Review.
I hope Arthur Mizener4 did not really mean what The New York Post made him say.
We are living very quietly in this hotel. Our apartment is under that of Peter Ustinov, whose tread I know well by now. The Lolita film will soon be released, as the saying goes, but I have not seen it yet. Dmitri's carreer is developing well but the poor boy had a bad case of food-poisoning and had to spend a month in a hospital. As soon as he got out he felt entitled to do some skiing in Gstaad.
How are you all? Our love to all three of you.
As Ever,
Vladimir Nabokov
TO: A. C. SPECTORSKY1
CC, 1 p.
Montreux, May 9, 1962
Palace Hotel
Dear Mr. Spectorsky,
My husband thanks you for your kind letter of April 18 (which, incidentally, came by surface mail).
My husband asks me to say that he is flattered by your confidence in his versatility, but that he has never seen Brigitte Bardot either on the screen or in life, and that the entire project has no interest for him.2
He sends you his kindest regards.
Sincerely yours,
(Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov)
TO: JASON EPSTEIN
CC, 1 p.
Montreux, May 9, 1962
Palace Hotel
Dear Jason,
First of all let me thank you, or not thank you, for Harry Matthews' THE CONVERSIONS. It is a shapeless little heap of pretentious nonsense. When I used to teach Creative Writing, there would always be at least one student who would reel out this kind of automatic stuff. Sorry.
Vera and I look very much forward to seeing you and Barbara in your high-ceiled abode in the beginning of June.
As ever,
Vladimir Nabokov
TO: THE LONDON TIMES
PRINTED LETTER1
Sir.—I find my name listed in the programme of the Edinburgh International Festival among those of writers invited to take part in its Writers' Conference. In the same list I find several writers whom I respect but also some others—such as Ilya Ehrenburg, Bertrand Russell, and J.-P. Sartre—with whom I would not consent, to participate in any festival or conference whatsoever. Needless to say that I am supremely indifferent to the "problems of a writer and the future of the novel" that are to be discussed at the conference.
I would have preferred to bring this to the notice of the Festival Committee in a more private way had I received an invitation to the conference before my name appeared on its programme.
Yours truly,
VLADIMIR NABOKOV.
Palace Hotel, Montreux, May 26
TO: MELVIN J. LASKY1
CC, 1 p.
Zermatt, July 20, 1962
Hotel Mt. Cervin
Dear Mr. Lasky,1
My husband asks me to thank you for your note marked "July 20" to which was attached copy of a letter you received from Mr. Dwight Macdonald.2 We both hope that you will visit Montreux at a time when we shall be there. To the end of July we shall stay at Zermatt, and may go to Cannes for August.
With regard to Mr. Macdonald's letter my husband asks me to transmit to you the following comment from him:
"Sirs,
Criticism is valid only when illustrated with examples. Mr. Dwight Macdonald offers none. Hence his criticism can apply only to a delusion (especially since he conjures up an "unknown graduate student"—who would have been the redemption and glory of my years of professorship, had that student ever existed).
Vladimir Nabokov
In case you publish Mr. Macdonald's letter, you may also publish the foregoing comment (provided it is used in the exact wording given above).3
With best wishes,
Sincerely yours,
(Mrs. Vladimir Nabokov)
TO: PETER AND JOAN DE PETERSON
TLS, 2 pp. Glenn Horowitz.
Zermatt, July 24, 1962
Hotel Mt. Cervin
Dear Joan and Peter,
We feel terrible to find that Joan's letter of many weeks ago was not answered sooner. We had hoped for a while that the LOLITA premiere might take place in London, but no, it was New York, and Vladimir naturally wanted to attend. We sailed on the Queen Elizabeth on May 31 and came back on its next trip. This allowed us exactly two very busy, very amusing, very tiring weeks in New York plus exactly two weeks going from Montreux to New York and back. Dmitri flew over for only eleven days, but we all three attended the opening night of the film. Vladimir had been worrying about the picture but already after the preview they arranged for us before the premiere he felt completely reassured. The picture might have been somewhat different had he made it himself but it certainly was excellent anyway and contained nothing whatsoever that he could find offensive, false or in bad taste. He liked the performance of all the four actors1 and even found some of the deviations from his script were very fortunate. The English premiere will be in September (we do not know the exact date yet). We hope to come over to London for that occasion. Especially since PALE FIRE will be published by George Weidenfled at about the same time. We are very much looking forward to seeing you again if this trip materializes.
In the meantime we are spending a month in Zermatt and shall probably go to a small place just above Cannes for August. Do you both or any one of you have any plans of visiting Europe in August? If yes, could we arrange a meeting somewhere?
Our permanent headquarters is Montreux (Palace Hotel). They will forward mail throughout the summer. We shall go back there some time in September and stay until spring when we may go back to the US.
Vladimir was very pleased that Joan found PALE FIRE amusing. Unexpectedly and amazingly, it has been for two weeks now on the bestsellers list (at the very bottom of the list, but nevertheless there). We do not expect it to stay there for long. It is indeed a very funny book, and only few reviewers realized what it was really about. The best article was by Mary McCarthy in The New Republic2 but literally scores upon scores of enthusiastic reviews appeared throughout the US. A notable exception was the NY Times and its Book Review.
Zermatt is charming. One of its nicer features is a complete absence of automobiles. If you have to drive you must hire a horse and buggy. This is very upsetting to Elena's citified dog who thinks that horses (he has never seen one in Geneva) are some kind of monsters from which it is his sacred duty to protect his mistress. Zhika plans a trip to Greece in the fall. Dmitri will come to stay with us in Cannes.
Last week a team of very brilliant young television men who put on "The Bookman" show for the BBC came over for a televised interview with Vladimir. Since they brought a kind of girl Friday with them from London and a three-man team of technicians from Zurich, and since the six of them with all their photographic and soundtrack equipment followed Vladimir for two days all over Zermatt, mostly in cabs, unpacking, putting up cameras and mikes, repacking, moving to another location, and all the time shooting pictures of V. catching butterflies or talking, this occasion, I am afraid, became for many tourists the highlight of their stay here. They followed in droves! And one little old lady (not this one) did her best trying to get into the picture. Altogether we had a marvelous time, and the BBC men felt confident they had a magnificent picture. It will be run in the fall and we shall try to advise you of the exact date and hour.
Do write us soon. We hope we may have an opportunity to get together before too long.
Love to both of you from us both.
V. and V.3
TO: BARLEY ALISON1
CC, 1 p.
Zermatt, July 24, 1962
Hotel Mt. Cervin
Dear Miss Alison,
I am sorry to say that I find the jacket design for PALE FIRE with the mauve beatnik horrible, disgusting and tasteless. If I have any say in the matter I would like to insist that it be as plain as possible, with no pictorial effects, and in the same style as the American edition. The lettering is hideous. It should be large, simple, and very black.
I am rushing this letter express. It arrived only today having been addressed to Saas-Fee. Please cancel the Saas-Fee address and use the one in Zermatt till the 28th, after which it will be best to write to Montreux whence my mail will be forwarded. We are planning to spend August at a place near Cannes.
With regard to your request for autographs for the Cheltenham Festival, I regret to say that I never give autographs and cannot make an exception that would automatically involve me in more and more autographing.
Vladimir Nabokov: Selected Letters 1940-1977 Page 30