As one of the most eloquent authors ever to have written in any language, Vladimir Nabokov's decision to share with the public his more intimate life constitutes a kind of "behind the scenes." Nabokov's command of language has been a subject of literary criticism for a long time, especially regarding what some consider to be the best novel ever written by any human, Lolita. In this autobiography, Nabokov explains the mechanics of these faculties by investigating his remembrances of youth.
One component of his reflections on youth is that he draws attention to the most intimate psychological details of his psyche, such as his relationship to his mother, his first girlfriend, his aloof father figure, his refuge in art. However, there are additional details that either signify his personal psychic energy or else some biologically inherited psychic ability—the ability of synesthesia. Perhaps this is part of why his style as a writer is so intuitive and yet so dynamic, because he has a blended sense of aesthetics.
Another critical detail that needs treatment is Nabokov's bone-chilling severity as an author. Lolita for instance, is about a lonely pedophile and his attempts to woe a young girl. And then in Speak, Memory, we see a young boy hearing of the World War on the Western Front. This means that Nabokov grew up in a divided Europe, reading of the first real industrialized warfare in the news. His childhood was one of severity and horror, because Europe was in a spiral that would not stop until 1945 and much later for Russia.
In a way, Nabokov asks the reader to psychoanalyze him. He asks the reader to take a closer look at his melancholia and indulgence. There is a sense in which the novel is a praise and defense of himself, but also an acute, aware confession of his petty humanity. What makes Nabokov different from the rest of us, it seems, is that he has been amazed by life from a very young age with an insatiable curiosity that privately led to the birth and growth of true artistic genius. Why? Because he loves his mother, of course.
