Vera (94 page)
Authors: Stacy Schiff
153
astonished a scholar: Interview with Barabtarlo, December 27, 1995.
154
suggest a liberty: Barabtarlo to author, June 30, 1998.
155
“Could be” to “Absolutely”: Boyd to author, December 14, 1997.
156
“My husband would never”: Interview with Barabtarlo.
157
prominent Nabokov critic: E. Tolstoy,
Smena
(St. Petersburg), April 11, 1991.
158
terrified of her: Interview with Vladimir Sikorsky; Interviews with Frank Taylor, May 17, 1995; Herbert Gold, June 22, 1995.
159
Paul Bowles: Interview with Bruccoli, April 18, 1995.
160
most of them were illiterate: VéN to Cannac, June 20, 1980, VNA.
161
warmhearted regret: VéN to Alison Bishop, May 6, 1983; interview with V. Crespi, January 26, 1996.
162
a little accident: See DN, “Close Calls and Fulfilled Dreams,”
Antaeus
(Autumn 1988), 299â323.
163
“like a rare animal”: Interview with DN, February 27, 1995.
164
under the weather: Interview with Nat Hoffman, January 23, 1997.
165
Those who saw her: Interview with E. Proffer, May 15, 1996.
166
“The car was wholly”: VéN to Joan de Peterson, May 13, 1981, VNA.
167
“Dmitri has seen”: VéN to Serge Nabokov, September 25, 1981, VNA.
168
about her life: Martin Amis to VéN, April 15, 1981, VNA.
169
“frozen with deference”: Interview with Amis, March 10, 1997. The
Observer
piece, from which “purple lace” comes, is reprinted in
Visiting Mrs. Nabokov
, 113â21.
170
“Don't ever let”: Interview with Parker, March 2, 1995.
171
“was as a young man,” and the denial: Amis, 118. Interview with Amis; VéN to Amis, September 11, 1981, VNA.
172
could not impress: VéN to Karlinsky, June 17, 1981, VNA. Karlinsky's piece ran in an abridged form in
The Partisan Review
50, no. 1 (1983). It places VN within an historical context but in no way diminishes his work, in or out of the classroom. It does suggest an occasional grudging admiration for Dostoyevsky.
173
“You are not a publisher”: VéN to Bruccoli, May 18, 1981, VNA.
174
He testifies that there: Interview with Karlinsky, September 10, 1997.
175
so long as he did not mention: VéN to Parker, February 4, 1984, VNA.
176
deleting them: She explained her rationale to Boyd: “There are several reasons why I wish to be kept out of the book as much as possible. 1) I am a private person, and would like to stay so. 2) I don't think about my letters, write them anyhow and they are not fit to be quoted. Incidental information that I impart is not meant to be treated as anything absolute. Not fit for footnotes,” VéN to Boyd, May 2, 1986, VNA. She had her wish in some respects: The correspondence that constitutes SL is so carefully selected as to be misleading. As one critic concluded of VN on parsing the collection, “He usually served as his own agent.” John M. Kopper, in Alexandrov,
Garland Companion
, 62.
177
“What should I”: Amis,
Visiting Mrs. Nabokov
, 119. Interview with Amis.
178
“You were very” to “from VN”: Interview with Boyd, November 21, 1996.
179
“No” to “Unanswerable”: D. Barton Johnson, Ellendea Proffer interview with VéN and DN,
Russian Literary Triquarterly
24 (January 1991), 73â85.
180
“Madame Nabokov” and “My life”: Pallini,
Gioia
, October 16, 1989.
181
people became more attentive: Interview with Karlinsky, September 10, 1997.
182
“Suffice it to say”: Barabtarlo to author, February 15, 1997.
183
“For once,” Véra wrote: VéN to Loo, McGraw-Hill, May 16, 1979, VNA.
184
“I don't know her patronymic”: Boyd interview with VéN, December 19, 1981, Boyd archive.
185
a beaming smile: Interview with Barabtarlo.
186
“young women who knew”: VéN to Daly, April 17, 1986, VNA.
187
“made a great number”: VéN to Carl Proffer, August 26, 1983, VNA.
188
“like a fool”: VéN to Alfred and Nina Appel, March 5, 1986, VNA.
189
On the “Queen of Spades” research: Interview with Barabtarlo. VN to Gleb Struve, April 15, 1971, LOC; VéN to Barabtarlo, May 6, 1988. See “A Possible Source for Pushkin's âQueen of Spades,' ”
Russian Literary Triquarterly
24 (January 1991), 43â62. VN's note promising more on the La Motte-Fouqué connection appears in EO, vol. 3, 97.
190
“You speak of depression”: VéN to Cannac, August 25, 1980, VNA.
191
“Though very old”: VéN to Karlinsky, April 9, 1986, VNA.
192
“exquisite pain”: VéN to E. Levin, April 19, 1988, VNA.
193
twice said their good-byes: Interview with DN, October 24, 1996.
194
“For half a year”: VéN to Boyd, May 4, 1988, VNA.
195
seller did not seem: VéN to Robin Kemball, February 13, 1990, VNA.
196
“I live in Montreux”: VéN to E. Levin, October 5, 1989, VNA.
197
“a hunchbacked” to “facial expressions”: E. Levin to VéN, October 20, 1989, VNA.
198
not having much fun: Interviews with DN, May 26, 1998, Nikki Smith, September 24, 1998.
199
Tears began to roll: Interview with Parker, March 2, 1995.
200
“No, never”: Interview with E. Proffer, May 15, 1996.
201
“Aunt Vera” and “very bad”: Irina Korsunsky conversation, cited by Lazar Feygin to author, September 14, 1995.
202
“Is there anything” to “quick death”: Interview with V. Crespi, May 20, 1998.
203
“Véra Nabokov, 89”:
The New York Times
, April 11, 1991. For other tributes, see
The Nabokovian
26 (Spring 1991), iâx.
204
“the monument called âNabokov' ”: Appel to DN, April 8, 1991, VNA. The sentiment was shared by family members. In her condolence letter to VéN of August 28, 1977 (VNA), Nilly Sikorsky had written, “je suis convaincue que cette oeuvre est vraiment votre oeuvre commune à tous les deux.”
205
“the movements of stars”: VN to Jannelli, July 14, 1938, Lilly.
206
the black cat: Interviews with DN, February 26, 1995, Morris Kahn, July 6, 1998.
1
“The unravelling of a riddle”: Unpublished last chapter to SM, LOC. Nabokov worked on the pages for about two months, revising them innumerable times. In the end he decided the fictional premise of the chapter conflicted with the tone of the rest of the memoir. VN to Katharine White, August 2, 1950, BMC.
For a complete Nabokov bibliography, see Michael Juliar's
Vladimir Nabokov: A Descriptive Bibliography
(New York: Garland, 1986), regularly updated in
The Nabokovian
.
Alexandrov, Vladimir E., ed.
The Garland Companion to Vladimir Nabokov
. New York: Garland, 1995.
Amis, Martin.
Visiting Mrs. Nabokov
. New York: Harmony Books, 1993.
Appel, Alfred, Jr., ed.
The Annotated Lolita
. New York: Vintage, 1991.
Appel, Alfred, Jr., and Charles Newman, eds.
Triquarterly
17 (1970). Reprinted as
Nabokov: Criticism, Reminiscences, Translations and Tributes
. Evanston, Il.: Northwestern University Press, 1970.
Appel, Alfred.
Nabokov's Dark Cinema
. New York: Oxford University Press, 1974.
âââ. “Nabokov's Puppet Show.”
The New Republic
, January 14 and 21, 1967.
L'Arc
24 (Spring 1964). Special Nabokov issue. Aix-en-Provence.
Barabtarlo, Gennady.
Aerial View: Essays on Nabokov's Art and Metaphysics
. New York: Peter Lang, 1993.
Berberova, Nina.
The Italics Are Mine
. New York: Knopf, 1992.
Billington, James H.
The Icon and the Axe
. New York: Vintage, 1970.
Blake, Patricia. Introduction to
Writers in Russia 1917â78
, by Max Hayward. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1983.
Boyd, Brian.
Vladimir Nabokov: The American Years
. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1991.
âââ.
Vladimir Nabokov: The Russian Years
. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1990.
Brenner, Conrad. “Nabokov: The Art of the Perverse.”
The New Republic
, June 23, 1958, 18â21.
Buhks, Nora, ed.
Vladimir Nabokov et l'emigration
. Cahiers de l'emigration russe, 2. Paris: L'Institut d'études slaves, 1993.
Davis, Linda H.
Onward and Upward: A Biography of Katharine S. White
. New York: Harper & Row, 1987.
Desanti, Dominique.
Vladimir Nabokov: essais et reves
. Paris: Julliard, 1994.
Diment, Galya.
Pniniad: Vladimir Nabokov and Marc Szeftel
. Seattle: University of Washington Press, 1997.
Ehrenburg, Ilya.
Memoirs 1921â1941
. Translated by Tatiana Shebunina. Cleveland: World Publishing, 1964.
âââ.
People and Life, 1891â1921
. Translated by Anna Bostock and Yvonne Knapp. New York: Knopf, 1962.
Europe
791 (March 1995). Special Nabokov issue. Paris.
Field, Andrew.
Nabokov: His Life in Art
. Boston: Little Brown, 1967.
âââ.
Nabokov: His Life in Part
. New York: Viking, 1977.
âââ.
VN: The Life and Art of Vladimir Nabokov
. New York: Crown, 1986.
Fraser, Kennedy.
Ornament and Silence
. New York: Knopf, 1996.
Gibian, George, and Stephen Jan Parker, eds.
The Achievements of Vladimir Nabokov
. Ithaca: Cornell Center for International Studies, 1984.
Girodias, Maurice.
Une journée sur la terre
. Vol. I,
L'Arrivée
. Paris: Ãditions de la Difference, 1990.
âââ.
Une journée sur la terre
. Vol. II,
Les Jardins d'eros
. Paris: Ãditions de la Difference, 1990.
âââ, ed.
L'Affaire Lolita
. Paris: Olympia Press, 1957.
Heilbrun, Carolyn G.
Writing a Woman's Life
. New York: Ballantine, 1988.
Johnson, D. Barton.
Worlds in Regression: Some Novels of Vladimir Nabokov
. Ann Arbor: Ardis, 1985.
Karlinsky, Simon, ed.
The Nabokov-Wilson Letters
. New York: Harper & Row, 1979.
Karlinsky, Simon, and Alfred Appel, Jr., eds.
The Bitter Air of Exile: Russian Writers in the West, 1922â1972
. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1977.
Levy, Alan.
Vladimir Nabokov: The Velvet Butterfly
. Sag Harbor, N.Y.: Permanent Press, 1984.
Maddox, Brenda.
Nora: A Biography of Nora Joyce
. New York: Fawcett, 1989.
Mandelstam, Nadezhda.
Hope Against Hope
. New York: Atheneum, 1970.
Mandelstam, Osip.
The Noise of Time
. New York: Penguin, 1993.
McGuire, William.
Bollingen: An Adventure in Collecting the Past
. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1989.
Nabokov, Dmitri. “Close Calls and Fulfilled Dreams: Selected Entries from a Private Journal.”
Antaeus
, Autumn 1988, 299â323.
Nabokov, Dmitri, and Matthew J. Bruccoli, eds.
Vladimir Nabokov: Selected Letters, 1940â1977
. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1989.
Nabokov, Vladimir.
Ada or Ardor: A Family Chronicle
. New York: Vintage, 1990.
âââ.
Bend Sinister
. New York: Vintage, 1990.
âââ.
Conclusive Evidence
. New York: Harper & Bros., 1951.
âââ.
The Defense
. New York: Vintage, 1990.
âââ.
Despair
. New York, Vintage, 1989.
âââ.
The Enchanter
. New York: Vintage, 1991.
âââ.
The Eye
. New York: Vintage, 1990.
âââ.
The Gift
. New York: Vintage, 1991.
âââ.
Glory
. New York: Vintage, 1991.
âââ.
Invitation to a Beheading
. New York: Vintage, 1989.
âââ.
King, Queen, Knave
. New York: Vintage, 1989.
âââ.
Laughter in the Dark
. New York: Vintage, 1989.
âââ.
Lectures on Don Quixote
. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1983.
âââ.
Lectures on Literature
. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1980.
âââ.
Lectures on Russian Literature
. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1981.
âââ.
Lolita
. New York: Vintage, 1987.
âââ.
Lolita: A Screenplay
. New York: Vintage, 1997.
âââ.
Look at the Harlequins!
New York: Vintage, 1990.
âââ.
The Man from the U.S.S.R. & Other Plays
. New York: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich, 1985.
âââ.
Mary
. New York: Vintage, 1989.
âââ.
Nikolai Gogol
. New York: New Directions, 1961.
âââ.
Pale Fire
. New York, Vintage, 1989.
âââ.
Pnin
. New York: Vintage, 1989.
âââ.
Poems and Problems
. New York: McGraw-Hill, 1970.
âââ.
The Real Life of Sebastian Knight
. New York: Vintage, 1992.
âââ.
Speak, Memory: An Autobiography Revisited
. New York: Vintage, 1989.
âââ.
Stikhi
. Ann Arbor: Ardis, 1979.
âââ.
The Stories of Vladimir Nabokov
. New York: Knopf, 1995.
âââ.
Strong Opinions
. New York: Vintage, 1990.
âââ.
Transparent Things
. New York: Vintage, 1989.
âââ.
The Waltz Invention
. New York: Phaedra, 1966.
âââ, trans.
The Song of Igor's Campaign: An Epic of the Twelfth Century
. New York: Vintage, 1960.
âââ, trans.
Three Russian Poets
. Norfolk, Conn.: New Directions, 1944.
Naumann, Marina Turkevich.
Blue Evenings in Berlin: Nabokov's Short Stories of the 1920s
. New York: New York University Press, 1978.
Nicolson, Nigel.
Portrait of a Marriage
. New York: Atheneum, 1973.
Nosik, Boris.
Mir i dar Vladimira Nabokova: pervaia russkaia biografiia
. Moscow: Penaty, 1995.
Parker, Stephen Jan, ed.
The Nabokovian
. Lawrence: University of Kansas, 1984â. Previously
The Vladimir Nabokov Research Newsletter
, 1978â84.
Perry, Ruth, and Martine Watson Brownley, eds.
Mothering the Mind
. New York: Holmes & Meier, 1984.
Pipes, Richard.
Russia Under the Bolshevik Regime
. New York: Knopf, 1993.
âââ.
Russia under the Old Regime
. New York: Penguin, 1995.
âââ.
The Russian Revolution
. New York: Vintage, 1990.
Proffer, Ellendea, ed.
Vladimir Nabokov: A Pictorial Biography
. Ann Arbor: Ardis, 1991.
Proffer, Carl R.
The Widows of Russia
. Ann Arbor: Ardis, 1992.
Pushkin, Alexander.
Eugene Onegin
. Translation and commentary by Vladimir Nabokov. 4 vols. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1975.
Quennell, Peter, ed.
Vladimir Nabokov, His Life, His Work, His World: A Tribute
. New York: William Morrow, 1980.
Rivers, J. E., and Charles Nicol, eds.
Nabokov's Fifth Arc: Nabokov and Others on His Life's Work
. Austin: University of Texas Press, 1982.
Rose, Phyllis.
Parallel Lives: Five Victorian Marriages
. New York: Knopf, 1983.
Rowe, W. W.
Nabokov's Spectral Dimension
. Ann Arbor: Ardis, 1981.
Russian Literary Triquarterly
24. Special Nabokov issue. Ann Arbor: Ardis, 1991.
St. Jorre, John de.
Venus Bound: The Erotic Voyage of the Olympia Press and Its Writers
. New York: Random House, 1994.
Shakhovskoy, Zinaida.
V poiskakh Nabokova
. Paris: La Presse Libre, 1979.
Shirer, William L.
Love and Hatred: The Troubled Marriage of Leo and Sonya Tolstoy
. New York: Simon & Schuster, 1994.
Sikorski, Hélène, ed.
Vladimir Nabokov: Perepiska s sestroi
. Ann Arbor: Ardis, 1985.
Trahan, Elizabeth Welt. “Laughter from the Dark: A Memory of Vladimir Nabokov.”
The Antioch Review
, Spring 1985.
Vesterman, William. “Nabokov's Second Fiancée Identified.”
American Notes and Queries
, September/ October 1985.
Vishniak, Mark.
Sovremennye zapiski: vospominaniia redaktora
. Bloomington: Indiana University Publications, 1957.
Volkov, Solomon.
St. Petersburg: A Cultural History
. New York: Free Press, 1995.
White, Edmund.
The Burning Library
. New York: Knopf, 1994.
Williams, Robert C.
Culture in Exile: Russian Emigrés in Germany, 1881â1941
. Ithaca: Cornell University Press, 1972.
Wilson, Edmund.
Letters on Literature and Politics, 1912â1972
. Edited by Elena Wilson. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1977.
âââ.
The Fifties
. Edited by Leon Edel. New York: Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 1986.
âââ.
Upstate
. Syracuse: Syracuse University Press, 1990.
Wood, Michael.
The Magician's Doubts: Nabokov and the Risks of Fiction
. Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1995.
Yakobson, Helen.
Crossing Borders
. Tenafly, N.J.: Hermitage Publishers, 1994.
Yanovsky, V. S.
Elysian Fields
. De Kalb, Ill.: Northern Illinois University Press, 1987.