How we cite our quotes: (Chapter.Section.Paragraph)
Quote #7
Their solicitude for the "average collector who should not be made to dissect" is comparable to the way nervous publishers of popular novels pamper the "average reader"—who should not be made to think. (6.2.5)
There is a clear similarity between the way Nabokov talks about Lepidoptera and the way he talks about reading. Very, very interesting...
Quote #8
[My father] used to confess that the creation of a story or poem, any story or poem, was to him as incomprehensible a miracle as the construction of an electric machine. (9.1.5)
Reading "Speak, Memory," we sometimes get the sense that we're watching Nabokov compose his autobiography. Of course, we're not. This is a composed, carefully constructed book. Even if we think its creation seems altogether "comprehensible," chances are it's a lot more complicated than it seems on first read. (But we knew that already, right?)
Quote #9
Among its imperceptibly changing amassments, one could pick out brightly stained structural details of celestial organisms, or glowing slits in dark banks, or flat, ethereal beaches that looked like mirages of desert islands. I did not know then (as I know perfectly well now) what to do with such things—how to get rid of them, how to transform them into something that can be turned over to the reader in printed characters to have him cope with the blessed shiver—and this inability enhanced my oppression. (10.6.1)
Nabokov seems to find writing therapeutic. In telling a story, and including stray memories, thoughts and feelings become more organized, and manageable. We guess we get this, but a nice massage or some vegging out doesn't hurt either.