- Vladimir turns to literature, and begins studying Russian fiction and poetry in earnest.
- He feels it important, at last, to understand and work in Russian, now that he is so far from home.
- Nabokov admits that he finds it embarrassing that his facility with the Russian language has always been better than his English work.
- The old trouble sleeping follows Vladimir to Cambridge, and he works all night to avoid anxiety and night terrors.
- Nesbit and his friends respect Vladimir's dedication, if not other pass-times, including "entomology, practical jokes, girls, and, especially, athletics." (13.4.2)
- Indeed, around this time Vladimir falls in love with soccer, particularly being the goalie, that independent "last defender."
- Vladimir doesn't do well on the British soccer fields, however, and spends time waiting for the game play to return to his side of the field, making up verse in Russian.
- Even though Vladimir is a hard-working scholar, he is a poor student.
- He skips classes, chases girls, and does not manage to go to the library even once in his three years at university.
- The things that many former students love about Cambridge, Nabokov notes, he hated, including crumpets and tea and ceremony.
- However, he says, by his last spring there, he had found a way to negotiate his homesickness into solid enough work to earn him an honors degree.