Bring on the tough stuff - there’s not just one right answer.
- The book tells the story of Nabokov's early life, but not really in chronological order. Why do you think he made that decision?
- The first version of this book was published in 1951, but it was revised and translated into Russian and back into English several times in the twenty years after. Nabokov tells us he's gone through and corrected things. But do you think that makes the final version of the book more or less "true"?
- In this story, there is Russia (home), and everywhere else. How did your impression of Nabokov's charmed childhood change, once you found out he and his family were basically exiled and forced to live as strangers in a strange land?
- Sometimes reading Nabokovian language can feel like wading through the marshes around his Vyra home. Why would an author choose to make reading his work challenging? What does it do to your understanding of the content of the book?
- Nabokov speaks often of going back to places where he experienced significant childhood moments, but somehow they never seem quite as magical as they do in his memory. What's the point of him telling us about these let downs?
- Nabokov sure is obsessed with butterflies! What "pet" obsession would you choose as a motif in your own life story, and why?