How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Section.Paragraph)
Quote #1
Nothing is sweeter or stranger than to ponder those first thrills. They belong to the harmonious world of a perfect childhood and, as such, possess a naturally plastic form in one's memory, which can be set down with hardly any effort; it is only starting with the recollections of one's adolescence that Mnemosyne begins to get choosy and crabbed. (1.2.3)
What seems to cause this "naturally plastic form"? Why are childhood memories easier to recall?
Quote #2
As I crawl over those rocks, I keep repeating, in a kind of zestful, copious, and deeply gratifying incantation, the English word "childhood," which sounds mysterious and new, and becomes stranger and stranger as it gets mixed up in my small, overstocked, hectic mind [...] (1.3.1)
Was Vladimir actually repeating "childhood" over and over again here, as a small child wandering away from his nanny and brother? Or is Nabokov making a statement about language and exploration of memory? Personally, we like to think of the small Russian child murmuring the word til it became nothing more than nonsense.
Quote #3
Upon reaching the stairway, my custom was to get to the steps by squirming under the handrail between the newel post and the first banister. With every new summer, the process of squeezing through became more difficult; nowadays, even my ghost would get stuck. (4.3.1)
With "even my ghost would get stuck," Nabokov's making a joke and meaning at the same time: often when we reoccupy our early memories, our perspective has clearly changed.