A review by leventmolla
Speak, Memory by Vladimir Nabokov

4.0

I would not have expected anything less from Nabokov. In this book of his early childhood memoirs, he is jumping into his typical prose describing inanimate objects, people, places that are coming from his amazing photographic memory, triggered by a seemingly insignificant object. In some cases he is re-building his memory using information he has obtained retrospectively and this gives his memoirs the unique taste of his novels. I likened the style to his novel Transparent Things, which is rich with long stream-of-consciousness passages and detailed descriptions of collections of objects.

It is a bit disappointing that the book only covers his early childhood, since we know his life has been quite interesting even after the initial period described, mainly reflected in his many fiction books.

It is quite a treat for Nabokovians but could cause overdose in metaphors for the unwary.