- When Vladimir is eleven, his father decides to begin sending him to school, a modern and liberal institution that went from around sixth grade into the first two years of college (speaking by way of American standards.)
- In 1911, Vladimir begins eighth grade, with two semesters each year, from September to May, with a holiday break in winter. (Sound familiar?)
- Because of the incredible length of the Russian winter, most of his memories of this time take place in the cold.
- Each morning he is awoken for school at 8AM, after which he finishes up his homework, bathes, dresses, and eats. (Again, sound familiar?)
- Though before Vladimir has always been able to rise to box and fence in the mornings with an instructor named Monsieur Loustalot, he now must get to school. His father takes up fencing in the morning instead.
- Monsieur Loustalot and his father fence in the study, where there is a punching bag and a great collection of books.
- Many of his father's books were lost during the Soviet Revolution, and later in Berlin in 1929, Vladimir will find his father's copy of War of the Worlds.
- Nabokov says that finding that particular book is fitting: even though it's about extraterrestrial invasion, it could easily be compared to the upheaval of the Soviet Revolution in his home country.